Christopher entered LGS from St Mary’s in 1985 and I was fortunate enough to teach him maths in his 2nd year. He found the subject difficult but that was not the case with his English where he flourished. He used this skill later in particular in the Loughburian where he was a considerable contributor writing reports on such things as the School’s charity year and reviewing my staff pantomime of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. He was a devoted member of the School’s VSU for 3 years and went on the Endowed Schools trip to the USSR in 1989 but is most remembered for his magic…most notably when he sawed Mr Crookes in half in the 6th form review. On leaving he headed to Homerton College, Cambridge to read English.
On leaving university he combined his magic and his love of teaching primary school pupils right up to his death. Halstead St Andrews School wrote this:
‘Mr Wardle was a much-loved and highly valued member of the Halstead St Andrew’s community. He was deeply respected by colleagues and pupils alike, and his kindness, warmth and dedication to the children in his care will be remembered with great affection. As well as being a passionate educator who brought endless generosity to everything he did; he was also a passionate magician and a member of the Magic Circle. Children were regularly left in awe by his sense of wonder, creativity and the joy he took in sharing his magic with them.’
Chris wrote comedy sketches for The Russ Abbott Show and Smith and Jones. He was the magic consultant to Nick Warburton’s 2006 Edinburgh Fringe production of ‘Dr Faustus’ and created effects for Jack Barton’s 2011 Edinburgh Fringe mentalism show ‘Fate and Two Sugars’.
Chris devised ideas for top British magician Geoffrey Durham, which he used during his appearances on Channel 4’s Countdown. Chris also devised an effect which became part of Geoffrey’s stage show and cabaret work. Geoffrey’s acclaimed book ‘Professional Secrets’ devotes an entire chapter to this effect.
The Inner Magic Circle’s obituary takes up his story. ‘Chris was a teacher who spent his spare time devising magic effects. For over 20 years, he invented tricks and authored effects. Chris contributed over 100 ideas to Goodliffe’s ‘Abracadabra’ magazine and won ‘Trick of the Year’ twice for his contributions to ‘The Magician’ magazine. His tricks and ideas were in a regular column in ‘The Magic Circular’.
He was happy to share his creations with fellow magicians. Mark Elsdon’s ‘Hidden Gems’, ‘The Best of Alchemy Card Magic’, ‘The Mentalism and Mind Reading Secrets of Repro Magic’, and Peter Duffie’s ‘Mindblasters’ feature Chris’s ideas.
Chris authored ‘Maths Tricks and Number Magic’. This is a book of magic tricks and number predictions designed for children to explore the magic of mathematics. You simply follow the instructions and the book appears to be able to read your mind! It is also a very useful volume for magicians, as it contains 60 effects using varied number principles, so it is an excellent reference source for ideas and methods. Chris followed this volume with ‘Word Tricks and Spelling Magic’.
Chris was a contributor to ‘The World of Children’s Magic’, a book produced and sold by ‘Practical Magic’ in aid of a number of global children’s charities. A Member of the Inner Magic Circle, with Gold Star, Chris was the winner of The Magic Circle’s ‘Cecil Lyle Award’ in 2014. This award is for magical invention, for the best trick published in ‘The Magic Circular’.’
David Rodgers remembers Chris as a good friend throughout their years at LGS, as well as his many talents, and will be greatly missed by the many that knew him.
Chris died following a short battle against Cancer on 31 December 2025. He was 52.
– John Weitzel
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