George Wallace

LAS VEGAS — Comedian George Wallace wasn’t laughing Thursday when he told a Nevada jury that he’s been permanently hobbled by a leg injury for which he is seeking $9 million from a Las Vegas Strip resort.

Wallace, 61, left his trademark beret on the defense table as he took the witness stand to say he’s been permanently affected by an Achilles tendon injury he suffered when he got tangled in loose wires on stage at the Bellagio in December 2007.

“To this day, I can’t run off the stage. I can’t dance,” he told the jury hearing a fifth day of testimony in Wallace’s civil negligence lawsuit against the Bellagio.

“I can’t do anything without thinking about, ‘Am I going to hurt my leg?”’ he said. “I can’t even get up like I used to. I have to take my time.”

Wallace’s testimony in Clark County District Court is scheduled to resume today.

The comedian’s attorney, Dominic Gentile, has said he’ll ask the jury to award $9 million in damages to the veteran stand-up entertainer.

Bellagio lawyers led by Paul Haire say Wallace had a pre-existing injury, that he was careless during his private performance for a corporate group in a ballroom room with about 100 seats, and that he voluntarily assumed the risk of injury.