‘Everybody loved him’: Winnipeg comedian who died in house fire always wanted to make people happy, aunt says

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A beloved Winnipeg comedian who was killed in a house fire was a “gentle giant” who had wanted to be a showman since he was a boy, his aunt says.

Clayton Stewart was found dead in a Nassau Street home after a fire Monday afternoon. The 45-year-old was a seasoned veteran of Winnipeg’s standup comedy scene, having toured across the country and in the U.S.

Linda Wilks, Stewart’s aunt, said he always took time to visit her when he was doing shows in British Columbia, where she now lives. The two talked often, she said.

She couldn’t believe it when she heard the news, she said.

“I broke down. I couldn’t talk to anybody. I just, I couldn’t talk without crying,” Wilks said. “He was a wonderful, caring, just an awesome person. Everybody loved him. He had so many friends.”

In addition to performing as a standup, Stewart was an actor and a magician.

Wilks said while she never saw her nephew act on stage, she would often see comedy videos he put on social media, and saw him perform magic tricks for her daughter and granddaughter.

“He did really good at the magic tricks,” she said. “They just loved it. They were in awe.”

WATCH | ‘He loved being up there,’ comedy partner says after Clayton Stewart’s death:

Winnipeg standups remember comedian after fatal house fire

Family and friends of Clayton Stewart say his death will leave a hole that will never be filled. The 45-year-old Winnipeg comedian died in a fire on Nassau Street on Monday.

Stewart is the third person to die in a fire in the city this year, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Chief Christian Schmidt said at a news conference Wednesday.

The first fire crew arrived at the house about five minutes after the 911 call came in on Monday afternoon, Schmidt said. The caller told officials that a person may have been trapped inside, he said. 

The fire was “so significant” that firefighters couldn’t safely enter the building until after an exterior fire attack quelled some of the flames, he said.

“The issue with this call was the significant development of fire, both on the exterior and interior of the building,” Schmidt said.

“Our crews are trained to save lives and property, and this kind of incident will stick with them for some time.”

A man and a woman in their 60s and a woman in her 30s escaped the fire, Winnipeg police said in a news release Tuesday. The three were taken to hospital and have since been released, police said.

Wilks said Stewart was living at the home with his partner and her parents.

Witnesses told CBC News a woman jumped from a second-floor window before firefighters arrived at the home on Nassau, between Kylemore and Walker avenues in the Lord Roberts neighbourhood.

Schmidt said preliminary observations suggest the fire was an accident.

‘It’s hurt a lot of us’: comedian

Stewart loved his fiancée deeply, said Nelson Mayer, Stewart’s comedic partner.

Stewart meant a lot to him and the rest of the city’s comedy scene, Mayer told CBC on Wednesday.

“At first I was pretty numb. I was pretty stunned, didn’t want to believe it was true,” he said.

The two formed a comedic duo called the Bad Apples, and were gearing up to tour B.C. They were also preparing to perform some shows in the U.K., Wilks said.

“You could tell he loved to be out there. He loved being the centre of attention more than anybody else I knew,” Mayer said.

Nelson Mayer, left, and Clayton Stewart performed together as a comedy duo called the Bad Apples. (Submitted by Nelson Mayer)

Stewart and Mayer shared Indigenous roots, but “for a good portion of his young life, [Stewart] was not aware that he was Indigenous,” Mayer said in an earlier email to CBC.

Stewart was “really proud of that part of who he was and embraced it,” Mayer said.

A member of Peguis First Nation, Stewart was also “very honoured that he got to perform on reserves and share laughter with [the] Indigenous community,” said Mayer.

Stewart’s laughter filled every room, and they shared a “weird sense of humour” both on and off stage, he said.

After his friend’s death, “I have moments when I’m crying really hard, and then I’m writing dark jokes and hearing Clayton’s laughing at those jokes. Then I’m crying again,” Mayer said.

“It’s been rough. He was my best friend. He was my comedy partner and he was my little brother, and it’s hurt a lot of us.”