"Go Woke, Go Broke". That's the call from the Wizard of New Zealand, also known as Ian Brackenbury Channell, who plans to lead a crusade against 'wokeness'.
The polarising character has gone online to call out what he says is a 'woke tide' washing over the country.
"I'm doing a seminar. I call it an online seminar and I'm so rude to people that they get so worked up they get rude to me and then it starts.
"And the feathers fly, you've never seen such rude comments. It's getting a big audience".
The Wizard loves to have fun, which he says is the opposite to being woke.
Channell migrated to Christchurch from Australia in 1974 and immediately began attracting headlines for his appearances in full costume in Cathedral Square.
"It was a lovely theatre, the square. For 20 years that place was humming because I was there, conducting the orchestra.
"I never told the truth. I just gave my opinion and it exploded so I used to end up saying what you think so far? And the crowd would shout out rubbish!
"It was a great moment when my own crowd said it was rubbish, because I know it is too, but it's the best rubbish you're going to find anywhere, in my opinion."
He believes Cathedral Square died when the council re-routed the buses out of the central city hub.
The 90-year-old is now leading a more sedate lifestyle.
"I'm writing a lot, I published a book recently called The Fun Revolution, Jack's Adventures in Ideologyland."
The Christchurch icon has no thoughts of retiring, and on fine days still manages to get out in full regalia around the city centre to entertain tourists.
- By Geoff Sloan
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
