Comedian Gallagher Retiring After Heart Attack In Lewisville

MARION (CBSDFW.COM/AP) -- Comedian Gallagher says he's had his fill of performing live onstage for crowds and is retiring after 32 years.

The Los Angeles-based comedian, whose full name is Leo Anthony Gallagher, told an Ohio radio station on Thursday that his retirement plans include posting his writings online for fans and possibly appearing at private parties.

Gallagher is known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer. He had a heart attack March 14 before a performance at a Lewisville bar. He came out of a medically induced coma this week and was released from a hospital Wednesday.

He told WDCM in Marion that it sometimes didn't matter how clever his jokes were if the audience couldn't hold their liquor. He said the job is like "baby-sitting people who can't handle alcohol."

The heart attack was not Gallagher's first.  He was hospitalized last year after suffering a mild heart attack on stage.  The comedian collapsed at a club in Rochester, Minnesota on March 10, 2011.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS Local. The Associated Press contributed to this report.  All Rights Reserved.)