History Main / MagiciansAreWizards

* Spoofed in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChickenSketch'' where Criss Angel is hired by [[Franchise/HarryPotter Hogwarts]] as a substitute teacher, despite the students pointing out the obvious tricks he uses. After apparently getting impaled by a unicorn, [[SuddenlyRealMagic it somehow turns out to be him underneath a zipper]].

Characters of the first kind stereotypically wear [[RobeAndWizardHat robes and pointy hats]], have long white beards, and can perform impossible feats such as [[BackFromTheDead raising the dead]], casting spells, and summoning fabulous creatures. We call these kinds of characters ''wizards'' or ''sorcerers'' (among other things), and they don't exist in RealLife[[note]]at least, [[HereThereWereDragons not anymore]], or, [[TheMasquerade that's what we think]][[/note]]. Characters of the second kind wear capes and top hats, usually perform their acts before a wide audience, (or a children's birthday party) and can perform simpler tricks like [[PullARabbitOutOfMyHat pulling rabbits out of their hats]]. We call these kinds of characters ''{{stage magician}}s'', ''conjurers'' or ''illusionists'', and they do exist in RealLife. Their magic is not real; they use misdirection, special effects and optical illusions to create the impression of magic. As [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Siegel_(professor_and_novelist) Lee Siegel]] says, "'Real magic', in other words, refers to the magic that's not real, while the magic that is real, that can actually be done, is not real magic."

** Also partly Inverted with both Witches and Wizards. As noted above, [[RealityIsUnrealistic magic is nowhere near as flashy as people think]] and [[MundaneMadeAwesome can be done with everyday objects]]. As such, they make sure to add as much showmanship to their spells as possible -- Wizards tend to use props while Witches usually prefer mind games.

* In ''Literature/DragonLance'', Raistlin Majere in Demi-season Dragons did some sleight-of-hand trick, with a vanishing coin.
** Since a major part of spellcasting involves intricate patterns of hand movements, it's not that weird that Raistlin (and others) have a certain affinity for sleight-of-hand tricks.
** He also shocked (and ticked off) Fistandantilus by using flash powder to pretend to cast a spell when Fistandantilus cast an AntiMagic spell.
** Later in that scene, he used his sleight-of-hand skills (which Fistandantilus considered unfitting of a true mage) to steal his ImmortalityTalisman without him realizing it was gone, thereby allowing the two of them to engage in a WizardsDuel fairly evenly.

* In Creator/TimPowers 's ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheDark,'' Aurelianus is a wizard of sorts (in fact he's [[spoiler:Merlin]]), but at one point he is called on to perform some juggling tricks to amuse crying children.

** Harry Dresden is a wizard, but his yellow pages ad specifically says he doesn't do parties. Harry seems to know about this trope, and tries to defy it as much as possible... yet people still phone him to ask if he REALLY is a wizard, and not just some magician or charlatan.

* A number of stage magicians in the early days claimed in advertising and/or in performances that their powers were derived from supernatural forces. Interestingly, the first book discussing what we now call stage magic was a book entitled "The Discoverie of Witchcraft." Naturally, [[AvertedTrope they were carefuly to avoid this in the era of witch-hunts.]] The magicians at that time always advertised their abilities as sleight of hand, because ''real'' magic would be a sign of a deal with the Devil. Some magicians still got in trouble because they were too good. Modern stage magicians consider it extremely unethical to claim to have supernatural powers. Doing so calls discredit on the entire profession and can get you banned from magic clubs. A number of magicians also publicly debunk claimed supernatural phenomena that they can replicate using the tricks of their trade. There is a long, long tradition of magicians being incorrigible skeptics.

* ''ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician'' is, if not quite the UrExample, certainly the best known example, inspiring countless [[CaptainErsatz similar characters]] in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, including [[Creator/DCComics Zatara and Sargon]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ItsMagicCharlieBrown'': Snoopy takes up stage magic, and learns the ability to many seemingly impossible tricks, including turning his owner Charlie Brown invisible. Charlie Brown briefly gets stuck that way, but not before taking the opportunity to finally kick that football before Lucy pulls it away.

* In the Danish comic ''ComicBook/HieronymusBorsch'', the eponymous hero's mentor was a real magician who worked as a circus illusionist. However, he never used his magic in his act -- he didn't need to.
* In ''ComicBook/TheMagicOrder'', Leonard Moonstone and his daughter Cordelia both use their magic powers to act as magicians; he as a regular but impressive stage magician and she as an escape artist.

* Sargon the Sorcerer was a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero in Franchise/TheDCU who used stage magic as a mask for his real magical powers.
* Inverted in ''ComicBook/{{Smoke and Mirrors}}''; the illusionist training the protagonist utterly baffles a society made up entirely of wizards because they've never had to think about or study science. They think he's a high level wizard when in fact any of them could probably wipe him off the map.
* Played with in ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' with the recurring character Ito Kata. He is a stage magicians who is unambiguously explained as having no magical ability, even though he keeps pulling off stunts that seem [[BeyondTheImpossible beyond what even the most talented magician should plausibly be able to do]]. For example, he seems at any time capable of producing more rabbits from his hat than its entire volume would allow him to conceal, or one man could carry weight-wise.

* ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} and her father, John Zatara, from Franchise/TheDCU are from a [[MageSpecies species]] called ''Homo magi'', and they use their powers for both entertainment and fighting evil. In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Zatanna admits to using ''both'' real and stage magic to give her act flair yet also give it PlausibleDeniability. An earlier comic even implies that she actually finds stage magic ''more'' difficult since it requires actual practice.

* Defied in the ''[[https://mightygodking.com/2010/03/31/do-you-remember-the-time-those-sweet-memories/ Why I Should Write Dr Strange]]'' blog by Mightygodking, which specifically states that Comicbook/DrStrange doesn't know ''anything'' about stage magic.

** The ''WesternAnimation/MerrieMelodies'' short "Presto Change-o" features Happy Hare (the earliest version of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny) as a magician's rabbit. While the magician is not present, Happy does do a series of impossible tricks, like making himself disappear by closing his hands on himself.

-->-- '''The Fact Core,''' ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''

* Spoofed in an issue of ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'' that was a parody of Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian: the seemingly all-powerful wizard our "heroine" met fought with playing cards, [[PullARabbitOutOfMyHat a rabbit]] and spells from... a bunch of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' cards!
** Later we get a three-issue spoof of ''Literature/HarryPotter''... Where wizards liberally combine Potterverse-like magic and stage magic tricks. We're even treated to [[PullARabbitOutOfMyHat pulling rabbits out of hats]] for use as projectiles from the top of a castle's walls and a giant top hat used as a ''siege cannon''.
* Sargon the Sorcerer was another GoldenAge hero in Franchise/TheDCU who used stage magic as a mask for his real magical powers.

* In ''ComicBook/TexWiller'', the villainous Steve Dickart, AKA Mefisto, debuted as a spy with a stage magician act as a cover (Mefisto being initially his stage name, complete with devil costume). After his initial defeat, however, he eventually returns with actual and vast magic powers linked in some way to the powers of Hell itself, but ''not'' through an explicit DealWithTheDevil ([[EvilIsNotAToy he feared the consequences of not being able to pull off his own side of the deal and so refrained]]).
** Later we meet Mefisto's son Blacky, who later starts going by Yama, and his past lover and Blacky's mother Myriam. While Blacky starts out as a stage magician who obtains his powers by studying from the black magic books left him by Mefisto, Myriam has minor powers (can see far away events from a crystal ball) while still a magician, and, differently from her past lover and son, never leaves the job.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Hypnota does not have any magic, but they are a {{telepath}} who uses their powers in their show while disguising it as a hypnotist act in the middle of all the illusionist bits.

* The 1981 B-movie ''Film/CarnivalMagic'' is about a stage magician who secretly has real powers of mind-reading and telekinesis.

* Most of the tricks in ''Film/TheIllusionist2006'' are impossible without modern special effects. Ironically, the last trick, which wows the audience the most, is actually possible without advanced technology. According to the DVD extras, Eisenheim's effects are largely the result of an UnreliableNarrator, to show how his illusions must have appeared to an audience unaccustomed to CGI. The Orange Tree trick, for instance [[spoiler:is a real trick involving an unbelievably complicated clockwork setup, some sleight of hand, and real oranges pinned to the clockwork tree.]]

* Subverted in ''Film/ThePrestige'': the movie explains every trick, and at one point Creator/MichaelCaine snaps "You're a magician, not a bloody wizard! If you want to do magic, you've got to get your hands dirty." [[spoiler:however, Tesla IS a "wizard," having created Angier's cloning device through SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology...]]

* A number of stage magicians in the early days claimed in advertising and/or in performances that their powers were derived from supernatural forces. Interestingly, the first book discussing what we now call stage magic was a book entitled "The Discoverie of Witchcraft." Naturally, [[AvertedTrope they were carefuly to avoid this in the era of witch-hunts.]] The magicians at that time always advertised their abilities as sleight of hand, because ''real'' magic would be a sign of a deal with the Devil. Some magicians still got in trouble because they were too good. Modern stage magicians consider it extremely unethical to claim to have supernatural powers. Doing so calls discredit on the entire profession and can get you banned from magic clubs. A number of magicians also publicly debunk claimed supernatural phenomena that they can replicate using the tricks of their trade. There is a a long, long tradition of magicians being incorrigible skeptics.

*** Amusingly, his friend Creator/ArthurConanDoyle, of all people, was convinced that Houdini was actually a powerful wizard himself. [[{{NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer}} No, that is not a joke]], Doyle really did believe this.

* In ''Literature/TheMasterAndMargarita'', Woland is a magician who performs a magic act. Given that he is actually the devil, this act involves real magic, but the [[FlatEarthAtheist audience]] is convinced there must be some trick behind it and demands him to reveal his secret.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "The Amazing Maleeni", which features a magician who dies from having his head fall off after performing a trick where he rotates his head the whole way around. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a subversion; unusually for this show, there was no magic or anything supernatural involved, and only mild foul play.]]

* This is what ''Anime/MagicalStarMagicalEmi'' is all about: She became a MagicalGirl and used her powers to become a StageMagician.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "The Amazing Maleeni", which features a magician who dies from having his head fall off after performing a trick where he rotates his head the whole way around. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a subversion; unusually for this show, there was no magic or anything supernatural involved, and only mild foul play.]]
* The fourth season ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[TakeThat Criss Angel is a Douchebag]]" revolves around the idea. The main characters, Sam and Dean, spend the entire episode trying to find a serial-killer wizard, who is hiding by pretending to be an elderly stage magician. Turns out he has a fondness for entertaining an audience when he's not committing homicide. Ironically enough, he dies when an Average Joe stage magician uses sleight of hand to use his own cursed stage-props to kill him.

* There's a whole society of wizards in the MagicalLand of Bottom World, in ''Series/TheLegendOfDickAndDom'', who make their living putting on stage magic shows.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', an unskilled street magician is given a real magic wand by [[TheDragon Morgana]], and uses it to commit crimes.
** Likewise, ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' has StageMagician Preston gaining real magic as a gift from the Ninja Nexus Prism. He even retains it when he temporarily loses his Ranger powers.

* ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'': In "Desecrated" the gang watched some stage magic in a village. Then it's revealed the stage magician knows some real magic too. He uses this to seek revenge on others.

* ''Series/ICarly'': One of the episodes features Malika, a stage magician who asks Freddie to the girl's choice dance and seems to be practicing real magic. Even the iCarly gang can't explain her magic tricks, which might be genuine magic.
* In ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' Donny Blaze is a magician who uses real sorcery to enhance his show. Unfortunately he's bad at both of them, his stage magic a series of cliched tricks executed poorly and his real magic novice-level and performed with dangerous ignorance. His main sorcerous trick is using a sling-ring to open a portal to a seemingly random location and having an audience member walk through it, which is not even all that visually interesting. When he tries to spice up his act further he accidentally unleashes a horde of demonic imps on the audience.

* Inverted in ''Podcast/AcquisitionsIncorporated''. It's a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game, where real wizards are a dime a dozen. But when the resident mage, Jim Darkmagic, isn't adventuring with the group, he's using his powers to entertain the masses. He's apparently quite the celebrity, despite [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/06/15 some mishaps on stage]].

* In ''TabletopGame/BraveNewWorld'', this is one of the standard covers used by Bargainers. In fact, the first Bargainer was Harry Houdini who developed delta powers after a near-death experience when one of his escapology tricks went wrong.
* In ''TabletopGame/CastleFalkenstein'', there is an order of wizards called The Cabinet of Cups and Wands who mix actual spellcasting with stage magic.
* Averted in the ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' book ''Havens of the Damned.'' Despite his skills in illusion and special effects, Jesse Van Reginald doesn't know real magic, nor is he a member of the [[MasterOfIllusion Ravnos]] or the [[BloodMagic Tremere]] -- as he no doubt [[IJustWantToBeSpecial would have preferred]]. Instead, he's part of clan Toreador, and currently laboring under a massive case of CreativeSterility.

* Harvey from ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' has a variety of tricks that would be just about impossible without actual magic, such as summoning pigeons literally out of thin air, teleporting, and [[InterfaceScrew turning your screen upside-down]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria}}'': Carno, a world-famous stage magician/escape artist became frustrated with just performing illusions, and wished to discover ''real'' magic. This lead him to an ancient book...[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor which contained an evil demon.]]
* In the game ''VideoGame/GrayMatter'', [[spoiler: Angela's father is revealed to be a magician whose magic was not an illusion, and Angela inherited his psychic powers]].
* In the ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' franchise, the Mesmer profession is easy to take for granted as a fantasy combat wizard like any other since you always play a hero, but they have a heavy stage magician theme implied to be the sort of thing Mesmers usually do for a living. This is shown early on with the first Mesmer trainer being found at the Actor's Stage. Their illusion powers make them great magicians or actors, while (lore-wise) they are ''also'' potentially the most powerful form of wizards, manipulating magic in its raw state to alter the fabric of reality.

* ''VideoGame/CirqueDeZale''
** Played straight with The Great Astoundo in the opening, who is just a normal circus magician, but still magically banishes Alexander to another dimension.
** Inverted/parodied with Adrastos the Non-Wizard, who was raised learning the art of magic, but prefers doing sleight-of-hand illusions, which he specifically refers to as "non-magic", because they require actual skill compared to just casting a spell.

* Zander from ''VideoGame/{{Battlerite}}'' comes from a troupe of performers and has the magician look, but he can still hurt and heal people just by [[DeathDealer throwing cards at them]], shoot giant bolts of energy, [[ThinkingUpPortals open up portals]], and [[ForcedTransformation turn enemies into sheep]]. His SelfDuplication ''could'' be exaplained as stage trickery, but considering the rest of his abilities they're probably actual magic too.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/TheWotch'' has a side character who does this. Apparently, a lot of wizards perform on stage as a hobby.
* Saxony Canterbury from ''Webcomic/{{Thunderstruck}}'' is unambiguously a wizard, but in this verse all wizards need some mental idea to base their magic around, his is stage magic.

* John Henry Hunter, the [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] villain of ''Webcomic/NextTownOver'', used to show off his fire magic in a stage routine before the events of the main plot. [[spoiler:Vane Black got badly burned in one show, which is why she's hunting after him now]].

* The magician recruited in Chapter 3 of ''[[Webcomic/FifteenMinds Legend of Legendary Mighty Knight]]'' can conjure birds from under their robe that can actually contribute to the team, and seems to be largely limited to stage magician-type magic.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' features the Amazing Mumbo, a blue-skinned villain in a cape and top hat who uses elaborate magic tricks to commit his crimes (usually bank robbery). If his wand is broken, he loses his powers and reverts to his normal human form. WordOfGod states that he was an ordinary magician who got his hands on a real magic wand, which gave him magical powers at the expense of his sanity. In a later episode, he has [[DomainHolder his own little world where he controls everything]] tucked away in his hat. Once caught inside, Raven (herself a magic user) [[ArbitrarySkepticism insists that everything Mumbo does is "just" an illusion]] (seemingly just because it's not a kind of magic ''[[UnequalRites she]]'' is used to). She ends up admitting it's real ''enough'', and uses a mundane illusion to trick Mumbo and save the team.

* At least one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' suggested Presto was an amateur stage magician before Dungeon Master gave him a magic hat. (Jimmy Whittaker in "City at the Edge of Midnight" says that Presto can show him some card tricks at school.) Which might explain why he's called Presto.
* Common in some golden-age American cartoons.
** The ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther Pink Panther]]'' cartoon "Bully for Pink" features the Panther as a bullfighter who confuses a magician's cape for his red cloth and accidentally causes all sorts of magical mayhem during the bullfight.
** The Creator/TexAvery short "WesternAnimation/MagicalMaestro" is about a magician who gets even with an opera singer by taking the place of the conductor and using his wand in place of the baton, causing all sorts of silliness.
** MickeyMouse in the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Classic Disney Short]] "WesternAnimation/MagicianMickey". His tricks become more elaborate and implausible as the cartoon goes on. Most of these tricks are directed at Donald specifically in almost ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' fashion.
** Another example from the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts is "Baggage Buster", where Goofy has to deliver a magician's trunk to the train station that is obviously magical. HilarityEnsues.

%%* Moo Moo the Magician from ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy''.
* In the classic ChristmasSpecial ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman'', a magician's top hat is caught up in a gust of wind, and lands on a snowman. This hat is so magical that it makes the snowman come to life. On the other hand, it is made clear that Professor Hinkel, the hat's owner, cannot even do stage magic very well.

* The entire plot of ''WesternAnimation/TheIllusionist2010'' is that Alice believes that the Illusionist has real magical powers.
* Inverted in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'', where the evil wizard turns out to only be using stage magic. By using clever strategy and planning he shows himself to be as effective as most of the real wizards Thundarr and company face.
* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse: Zatanna is an odd case. When she first appears in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', she's a skilled stage magician and EscapeArtist, [[AdaptationalMundanity with no implication that she uses actual magic]]. By ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', [[RetCon she's capable of real magic]] like the comic-book version. She explains that most of her acts are mundane stage magic but she will throw in a genuine magical feat somewhere in the show to help with the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGoblinKing'', The Amazing Krudsky is a stage magician who wants to be a real wizard. He ultimately drains the fairy Princess Willow's magic to grant himself real magic powers.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'', the Wiztastics are a magic-based tribe. They're traveling stage magicians, yet their powers are straight-up magic.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'', Sunil's greatest dream is to become a famous stage magician, so he's constantly practicing magic acts, with mixed results. At times, he seems to display genuine magical abilities, like swapping his position with another character using a teleportation-like effect.

* In one episode of ''Anime/MagicUsersClub'', Takeo performs magic for a group, and justifies it by saying "since they just think it's magic tricks, it's okay."
* ''Manga/GhostHunt'': [[spoiler:Naru with his spoon]] is variant with telekinesis.
* This is what ''Anime/MagicalStarMagicalEmi'' is all about: She became a MagicalGirl and used her powers to become a StageMagician.

* Hisoka from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' could be an inversion. While it's obvious that he's using ''some'' sort of magic, he uses clever tricks and misdirection much like a StageMagician to make his powers seem far more [[ComboPlatterPowers varied]] [[PowerMisidentification than they actually are]]. For the record, he can create an [[InvisibleToNormals invisible]] gum-like aura, and change the texture of objects. That's it.
* Uten from ''Manga/{{Needless}}'' who dresses like a magician and uses the catchphrase "It's magic!", can apparently really do pretty much everything, even breaking the rule of having only one power. [[spoiler: In reality, his sole power is making things invisible, combined with carefully prepared tricks and traps, and he uses actual stage magic strategies to distract people to stop them from finding him out.]]
* The main character of ''Anime/MagicalTravelBoy'' encounters a street magician and is convinced he's an actual magic-user. [[spoiler:Which he is...]]

* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' has Tsubame Ozono, an inverted EthnicMagician who left his native home in Japan to study Western Black Magic. As such, he dresses up like a stage magician. He still wields very real magic, at one point getting into a WizardDuel with his girlfriend's disapproving Buddhist priest uncle, countering the priest's summoning of {{obake}} with his own conjurations of Western monsters such as {{Medusa}} and FrankensteinsMonster.

* ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} and her father, John Zatara, from Franchise/TheDCU are from a [[MageSpecies species]] called ''Homo magi'', and they use their powers for both entertainment and fighting evil. In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Zatanna admits to using ''both'' real and stage magic to give her act flair yet also give it PlausibleDeniability. An earlier comic even implies that she actually finds stage magic ''more'' difficult since it requires actual practice.

* Sargon the Sorcerer was another GoldenAge hero in Franchise/TheDCU who used stage magic as a mask for his real magical powers.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Hypnota does not have any magic, but they are a {{telepath}} who uses their powers in their show while disguising it as a hypnotist act in the middle of all the illusionist bits.

* The third edition of the anthology series ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular'' introduces [[OriginalCharacter Madame Athena]], a stage magician who turns out to be one of the last human practitioners of magic in the world, and one of the most powerful to boot.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie'' features a young man named Nicholas, a magician's apprentice who finds a book containing an evil spirit who teaches him to perform real magic... [[DealWithTheDevil for a price]].

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/DevilDoll'', the main villain is a ventriloquist who's really a soul-stealing hypnotist.
* In ''Film/{{Chronicle}}'', Andrew uses his newfound PsychicPowers to do magic tricks at his school's talent show.
* In Hong Kong film ''Film/MagicToWin'', Charlie is a stage illusionist, but also uses his Metal Magic to perform incredible tricks, in the film he as assisted by Bi Yewu, perform an illusion where Charlie divides himself in 4, then one by one Bi Yewu makes each part of his body vanish.
* The 1981 B-movie ''Film/CarnivalMagic'' is about a stage magician who secretly has real powers of mind-reading and telekinesis.
* ''Film/NowYouSeeIt2005'': Played with; Danny suspects himself to be capable of real magic, but Max claims to the others he's just pulling a famous magician trick and trying to gain attention through claiming to have paranormal abilities. When Danny is sent to prove his powers for a panel of skeptics, Max's point is proven further thanks to Danny's levitation being the result of a cleverly made chair, and not Danny himself. However, it's then revealed that both Danny and Max really do have actual magical powers, and that Max was just trying to hide things from everyone else.
* Gargamel in ''Film/TheSmurfs2'' has been successfully touring the world using magic in a stage show. The plot kicks off when he starts running out of Smurf essence that powers his magic so has to summon more Smurfs to the modern day.

* Aziraphale in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' liked to do stage magic as a hobby. He's also an angel, perfectly capable of doing real magic anytime he wants, but considers that "cheating" while working as a magician.
** He's also an absolutely ''dreadful'' magician - though it is implied that he was once at least competent, and is just a century out of practice. The fact that his grasp of the 20th century, showmanship included, stopped in the 1950s, didn't help.

* In ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', the Wizard was a stage magician mistaken for the real thing when he landed in Oz. [[Literature/LandOfOz Later on]], he began to learn real magic from Glinda.
** Parodied in ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz'', where the Ozians thought he was a powerful wizard because he could do the detached thumb trick.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Mostly averted. Real Wizards look down upon mere magicians, and consider being called a magician an insult. However, "magicians" are low-level magic users; the people who saw women in half are called "conjurers". Conjurers don't seem to have any magical abilities at all, but are ''still'' higher up the magical hierarchy than thaumaturgists (more or less magical IT guys). It's also stated that conjurers are quite popular: people find tricks done with misdirection and sleight of hand to be more impressive than boring old magic.
** Also partly Inverted with both Witches and Wizards. As noted above, [[RealityIsUnrealistic magic is nowhere near as flashy as people think]] and [[MundaneMadeAwesome can be done with everyday objects]]. As such, they make sure to add as much showmanship to their spells as possible -- Wizards tend to use props while Witches usually prefer mind games.
** However, the basic unit of magic (the thaum) is defined as the amount of magic needed to produce a pigeon or three white balls.

* Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''Literature/MairelonTheMagician'' is a wizard who chooses the role of stage magician (in which he is also competent) to hide from the law, as nobody would expect a ''real'' magician to waste his time playing marketplaces.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Averted for Harry's dad, Malcolm Dresden, who was a stage magician with no actual magic. It's specifically noted that he was, in many respects, entirely ordinary.
** Harry Dresden is a wizard, but his yellow pages ad specifically says he doesn't do parties. Harry seems to know about this trope, and tries to defy it as much as possible... yet people still phone him to ask if he REALLY is a wizard, and not just some magician or charlatan.
---> '''Harry:''' Magicians do sleight-of-hand. I do real magic.
*** Inverted later in the series, when Harry starts learning how to play XanatosSpeedChess and masters the IndyPloy, and begins relying just as much on trickery and misdirection as on brute force to resolve matters for his employers. He also laments that a magician's arsenal contains a wide variety of very useful tricks (like slipping out of a pair of handcuffs) that he wishes he could have learned from his dad.
** He apparently also gets calls asking him if he's really [[Literature/HarryPotter a wizard named "Harry"]]. He is however, named after [[RuleOfThree three]] famous magicians (at least) and a city that is famous for being bombed / burned down. [[Creator/HarryHoudini Houdini]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Blackstone,_Sr Blackstone]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Copperfield_%28illusionist%29 Copperfield]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II Dresden]]. This is MeaningfulName as he is a GuileHero OccultDetective who has a "[[DestructiveSavior problem with buildings]]".

* In Creator/GKChesterton's ''Magic'', the conjuror, it turns out, does know real magic, but he doesn't use it in his act. [[BlackMagic He has very good reasons.]]
* Creator/PeterStraub's novel ''Shadowland'' is based entirely upon this trope, and derives much of its power from the distorted and unreliable perceptions of the main characters as to what is really magic, what was merely illusion, and what "really" happened/is happening at any one point in the action.
* ''Literature/ElementalMasters'' series:
** Jonathon Hightower, from ''Literature/ReservedForTheCat'', is a skilled stage magician ... and an Elemental Master of Fire. Most of his stagework is sleight of hand, but he enjoys using "real magic" at least once in each show.
** In ''Literature/{{Steadfast}}'', Lionel Hawkins is also a stage magician, and an Air Magician, who uses sylphs to help with his magic act.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', [[TricksterTwins the Weasley twins]] once mention going down to the nearby town to show some magic tricks to a {{Muggle}} girl. The tricks are so good they almost seem like ''real'' magic, don't they? They also learn more mundane tricks like picking locks.
* In one of the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' novels, a group of real mages make their way across an enemy country by pretending to be a group of stage magicians in a traveling show.
* In the ''{{Literature/Deverry}}'' novels, Salamander poses as 'The Great Wizard Krysello' in the Bardek marketplaces. Everyone in the audience assumes that he's doing stage magic when he's actually using real magic. Nevyn was not amused.
* In ''Literature/TheImmortals''' third book, we learn that [[TheArchmage Numair's]] hobby is sleight of hand. He actually supported himself as a stage magician for a while when on the run from Carthak, and didn't use real wizardry because the emperor and his court could trace that.
* ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'': Schmendrick the Magician entertains the sightseers at [[MasterOfIllusion Mommy Fortuna's]] Midnight Carnival while they wait for the show to start, but he could "work more ominous wonders if he chose."
* In Creator/TimPowers 's ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheDark,'' Aurelianus is a wizard of sorts (in fact he's [[spoiler:Merlin]]), but at one point he is called on to perform some juggling tricks to amuse crying children.
* Mister Mystic from ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'' is a wizard that dresses like a stage magician, and acts like one to boot. The database at the end explains that he used to be a hack magician that stumbled upon the secrets of real magic.
* Inverted in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', where many people who claim to be sorcerers rely partially or entirely on sleight of hand, chemistry, and clever engineering to simulate the magic they can't do. [[spoiler: This even includes Melisandre, who notes that her supply of powders which among other things, she throws into fires to change their color, is running low.]] But with the [[TheMagicComesBack dragons back]], real magic is becoming more common and powerful.
* ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' series:
** In "Literature/SorcererConjurerWizardWitch", the titular conjurer is The Great Edmondo, who is a celebrated stage magician and also one of the four magic users who defend London.
** Possibly the Mystic Maharajah of the Splendid Six in "Literature/ClublandHeroes", although it's unclear how much power he actually has. One of his colleagues is convinced all his magic is trickery; another comments that however he does it, the important thing is that it works. Catriona recalls that before he joined the Splendids to fight weird crime, he was a low-rent stage performer whom she encountered while investigating fraudulent psychics; perhaps significantly, she doesn't specify whether he himself was a fraud.
* The Great Farloss in ''Literature/SsaliaAndTheDragonsOfAvienot'' is a stage magician whose tricks include [[{{Invisibility}} turning himself invisible]] and [[ForcedTransformation transforming a volunteer with a magic powder]], so the fact there's real magic involved is fairly evident. Not surprisingly, he is later referred to as a sorcerer.
* Part of the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in ''Literature/{{Redwall}}''. During the feast just before Cluny shows up, Ambrose is performing magic tricks, and the narrator comments: "Was it magic? Of course it was." These magical powers never show up again. Perhaps it was just an instance of UnreliableNarrator.
* Prior to the events of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Gandalf was best known to the AudienceSurrogate residents of the Shire for his fireworks shows, "some of which were obviously magical." He also tells Bilbo that he should "not take [him] for some conjurer of cheap tricks".
* ''Literature/TheNightCircus'': One of the two main characters has been trained since childhood to be a stage magician at the titular Night Circus, as well as having been trained since childhood in ''real'' magic.
* Played with in ''[[Literature/GarrettPI Petty Pewter Gods]]'', when Magodor demonstrates the powers of her magical rope. Her demonstration is ''exactly'' like the routines which stage magicians perform with short pieces of rope, but in her case it's all done for real. Knowing better than to kibbitz a goddess with a title like "the Destroyer", Garrett does ''not'' mention the analogy when he spots it.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos''
** Eric Watley picked up sleight-of-hand tricks before he learned FunctionalMagic. Afterwards, he added the two together to create new tricks. He was even hired to perform dinner-and-a-show style in a restaurant.
** Dengel is a famous researcher and codifier of magic in 21st century Tariatla, but in his own time he was closer to a court jester performing parlor tricks for his clients. That is, when he wasn't helping lay siege to fortresses.
* ''Literature/Magic20'' is about people from the modern era discovering MagicFromTechnology and settling all through time. Minor characters Sid and Gilbert work as stage magicians in Victorian England. They don't use their powers in the shows themselves, considering that to be cheating; they do steal more advanced tricks from the future, though.
* Quentin Coldwater's first brush with real magic in ''Literature/TheMagicians'' actually began with him learning basic slight of hand in the hopes of brightening up his rather dull life, unwittingly getting the attention of one of [[WizardingSchool Brakebills]]' talent spotters, who sensed some potential in him. Later, one of Quentin's first instinctive uses of real power features Quentin performing a coin trick - and making it disappear ''for real.''

* The [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts Pixar animated short]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Presto}}'' features a magician with both a top hat and a pointy wizard hat; anything placed into one will come out the other. He intends to use this magic to [[PullARabbitOutOfMyHat pull a rabbit out of his hat]] before a live audience, but the rabbit (who's angry about being forced to skip lunch) has other plans. HilarityEnsues.