Lewis Black, like some of his comparably seasoned brethren on the music side such as Elton John and Kenny Loggins, has decided to retire from hardcore touring as he approaches his 76th birthday.

“I used to do 200 shows a year, then cut back to 125 and I’m now at about 100,” Black told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. “Now I’m ready to sit down and focus on other things.”

Even though he doesn’t want to tour anymore, he still plans to do one-off shows here and there or open for a bigger act when the mood strikes him.

With the extra time, Black plans to write more books and surrealistic comedic one-act plays. He’ll also continue to record his podcast “Rantcast” and provide his signature rants on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

His “Daily Show” rant a month ago about artificial intelligence was vintage Black: exasperated, annoyed and cranky to the max.

“Train the next AI to act more like me,” Black said on the show. “That way when you try to give it some [expletive] assignment, it’ll always give you the right answer: ‘Go [expletive] yourself!’”

Black has been a recurring contributor on the show since it started in 1996 when Craig Kilborn was host. “It’s always a lot of fun,” he said. “I have two more years on my contract and we’ll see how it goes.”

He’s happy to see Jon Stewart back at the helm, even part time, although the constant speculation over who will permanently take over the helm after Trevor Noah left bemuses him.

“This is not a holy seat,” he said. “This isn’t the Vatican! The show is about the satire. It’s about the writers."

For his stand-up show, Black generally avoids talking about Joe Biden or Donald Trump even though they are facing off again because he feels like there’s nothing new to say.

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