Farewell to 'the V8 of NZ comedy'

Ewen Gilmour. PHOTO / EWENGILMOUR.COM

New Zealand's favourite "Westie", comedian, Ewen Gilmour, left us last week.

Ewen died in his sleep overnight Thursday at his Port Waikato home, aged 51. He lived alone after his wife Catherine died in 2011, following a long battle with cancer.

Ewen was chairman of the Onewhero-Tuakau Community Board for the Waikato District Council and was a Waitakere City councillor from 2004 to 2007.

MediaWorks - which aired a range of Ewen's shows or programmes featuring him, including 7 Days, Road Madness and Dancing With The Stars - paid tribute to a "friend and colleague" in a statement. Ewen had been filming in MediaWorks studio for a comedy special, which as yet has no on-air date.

"He was a much-loved and respected part of the wider MediaWorks family and had given generously of his immense talent over the years," the statement said.

John McDonald, head of local production at MediaWorks TV, referred to Ewen as "mischievous, intelligent and warm-hearted".

"He set the standard for many of our young comedians to aspire to, with a knack for telling a wonderful, crazy, circular story that had fantastic gags all the way round. He'll be hugely missed."

Ewen performed in post-quake Christchurch, where comedy played an important part in helping Cantabrians through tough times. He won the Billy T Award in 1997 and the Decade Achievement Award from the NZ Comedy Guild in 2010. Recently, he presented the TV3 show Road Madness and appeared as a panelist on 7 Days.

Ewen was highly regarded as an ambassador for children's charity Variety NZ and he received a Variety International Presidential Citation.

I have caught Ewen's gigs a few times over the years. He always made me laugh and truly was "the V8 of NZ comedy".

Fellow comedians took to Twitter to post tributes.

Mike King: "I still remember our first gig together in 1994. Man was too funny. Gone too soon, rest easy brother."

Rhys Darby: "Just heard the incredibly sad news that my friend, the veteran legend Kiwi comic Ewen Gilmour, had passed away."

Te Radar: "It's a dark day out west. Thanks for the good times, Ewen. You brought so much joy to so many people."