Wizard, Christchurch

Speaking to the masses, though not so often these days, is the Christchurch Wizard aka Ian Brackenbury Channell. He has actually been deemed a "living work of art" and has been doing his thing in Christchurch since after his arrival in 1974.

The Wizard was born in London in 1932 and took degrees in Sociology and Psychology at Leeds University before moving to Australia. He taught sociology at the University of New South Wales before deciding that he was on the wrong side of 'the Ditch' and moved to Christchurch in 1974. He became Wizard of Christchurch in 1980 (he was Wizard of the University of New South Wales in 1969 before his big move) and in 1990 was officially appointed New Zealand's first wizard by Mike Moore, the then Prime Minister of NZ. In an official proclamation signed by the Prime Minister the Wizard was "entitled to wear the appropriate regalia and be required to carry out the duties of national Wizard, namely to protect the Government, to bless new enterprises, cast out evil spities, upset fanatics, cheer up the population, attract tourists and in particular to design and promote a new and improved universe which puts New Zealand on top of the world both physically and metaphysically"

When I was at high school (Hagley High which is close to the middle of town) I used to enjoy the Wizard's regular 'spats' with the Bible Lady (Rene Stanton) - she would be trying to play her Violin whilst the Wizard regaled the masses with his 'view of the world' - speaking of this - the Wizard is infamous for designing the map "No Longer Down Under" which reversed the orientation of the world and put New Zealand on top. His view of the world therefore is most interesting.