History Main / MagicianDetective

* Rollie Tyler, the special effects expert from ''Series/FXTheSeries'', ought to qualify for this trope, as he uses similar techniques of deception and misdirection to fool suspects. Hey, movie magic is still magic.

* Creator/HarryHoudini is perhaps the patron saint of this trope, having a {{Determinator}}-like passion for exposing psychics and mediums. Paradoxically, that was because he dearly wanted to find the real thing, and the phonies wasting his time really ticked him off. He even arranged a password with his wife so that she would know if a medium was really channeling his spirit after he died. She tried, but never received the code.
* James Randi, a.k.a "The Amazing Randi", was a professional magician before turning his attention to debunking claims of supernatural ability (though he preferred to call himself an "[[InsistentTerminology investigator]]" rather than a "skeptic," as he felt the latter carried inherent negative connotations). He had a $1,000,000 reward set aside for anyone whose abilities withstood his investigation. It ran from 1996 to 2015, and no one collected. He is perhaps most famous for exposing Uri Geller as a fraud live on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Creator/JohnnyCarson, who also had magician training and an interest in debunking Geller. Randi also maintains that magicians are really necessary when debunking these charlatans since they are a lot better at catching deliberate fraud than other researchers and scientists.

* ''Series/BlackesMagic'' was a short-lived American TV show about a magician, Alexander Blacke (played by Hal Linden), who, with some help from his con-man father, Leonard (Harry Morgan), solves mysteries that get in the way of his performances.

* ''Series/TheMagician'' was an American television series that ran during the 1973–1974 season. It starred Bill Bixby as stage illusionist Anthony "Tony" Blake, a playboy philanthropist who used his skills to solve difficult crimes as needed. One of the big hooks in this series was that Bixby, a rather talented amateur illusionist, performed all the illusions without camera tricks of any kind.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[CoversAlwaysLie Despite the cover]], the mysteries have mundane solutions]]

* ''Norgil the Magician'', a pulp hero created by Walter B. Gibson, creator of Radio/TheShadow.

* Kindaichi, titular character from ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'', also counts although it's more of "Detective who knows some magic tricks". This knowledge is very useful in solving several impossible crimes since several tricks uses similar basic concepts as how magic performance works.

* Kaitou Kid from ''Manga/MagicKaito'' and ''Manga/DetectiveConan''. At times, he has been known to use his intellect as a thief to solve things. Main example -- the Golden Eye heist. Plus various other incidences.

* Kindaichi, titular character from ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'', also counts although it's more of "Detective who knows some magic tricks". This knowledge is very useful in solving several impossible crimes since several tricks uses similar basic concepts as how magic performance Works.

* James Randi, a.k.a "The Amazing Randi", was a professional magician before turning his attention to debunking claims of supernatural ability. He had a $1,000,000 reward set aside for anyone whose abilities withstood his investigation. It ran from 1996 to 2015, and no one collected. He is perhaps most famous for exposing Uri Geller as a fraud live on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Creator/JohnnyCarson, who also had magician training and an interest in debunking Geller. Randi also maintains that magicians are really necessary when debunking these charlatans, since they are a lot better at catching deliberate fraud than other researchers and scientists.

* Kindaichi, titular character from ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'', also counts although it's more of "Detective who knows some magic tricks". This knowledge is very useful in solving several impossible crimes since several tricks uses similar basic concepts as how magic performance Works.
** Yoichi Takato, Kindaichi's ArchNemesis is a unique subversion of this. He's an aspiring magician [[spoiler:who learned a few magic tricks from his mother and a lot more from his teacher abroad who became a murderer after finding out that his mother had been killed by her greedy disciples]]. After his debut, he created a lot of impossible murder cases which confuse Kindaichi and police. A straighter example comes from a spin-off ''Takato Shōnen no Jikenbo'' where he had to solve a murder case when he was in high school. In this time, he was shown giving street magic performance in a public park.

* Blackstone (see Radio examples below) also had a comic series in the late 1940s.
* {{Downplayed}} by Franchise/{{Batman}}, but Bruce Wayne did train under the magician Zatara to become a skilled EscapeArtist for his future in crimefighting.

* ''Film/CharlieChan'' has to combine his detective skills with a magician friend's talents in ''Charlie Chan at Treasure Island''.

* Rawson also wrote four short stories about a very similar character called Don Diavolo.

* The title character of the ''Literature/MediochreQSethSeries'' is -- or was, it's unclear -- a Member of the Inner Magic Circle. He loosely counts as an example of this trope, in that he ''does'' use his gifts with misdirection and escapology to help in his investigations, but never in an attempt to disprove the existence of magic, because [[UrbanFantasy he knows damn well that magic exists]].
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden is most definitely not an example himself, but he's apparently had enough trouble with people getting this trope and OccultDetective mixed up in-universe to feel compelled to put a line about "no children's parties" in his ad in the Yellow Pages.
* ''Literature/AngelKiller'' and the later books in the series have Jessica Blackwood. The daughter and granddaughter of professional magicians. She was one herself until a trick went wrong nearly killing her and her family focused on mining that for PR rather than taking care of her. Now she is an FBI agent and her knowledge of magic tricks helps her solve serial crimes.

* ''Series/JonathanCreek'': Jonathan is not a stage magician, but he does design illusions for one and has, on occasion, demonstrated a few close-up magic tricks. He also showcases a few secondary skills in the field (usually when they will be important to the plot later); he knows how to pick locks, for example.

* Naoko Yamada, played by Yukie Nakama, the main character of the Japanese drama ''Series/{{Trick}}''.
* Shawn Spencer from ''Series/{{Psych}}'' is probably close enough to count here. He claims to be a psychic but actually solves crimes through his keen powers of observation.

* Rollie Tyler, the special effects expert from ''Series/FXTheSeries'', ought to qualify for this trope, as he uses similar techniques of deception and misdirection to fool suspects. Hey, movie magic is still magic.

* The main character from the Fox animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheMagician'' is one of these, though he may have legitimate magic powers in addition to his StageMagician ones, the show isn't really clear on this point.

* Kindaichi, titular character from ''Anime/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'', also counts although it's more of "Detective who knows some magic tricks". This knowledge is very useful in solving several impossible crimes since several tricks uses similar basic concepts as how magic performance Works.

* Kindaichi, titular character from ''Anime/KindaichiCaseFiles'', also counts although it's more of "Detective who knows some magic tricks". This knowledge is very useful in solving several impossible crimes since several tricks uses similar basic concepts as how magic performance Works.

* James Randi, a.k.a "The Amazing Randi", was a professional magician before turning his attention to debunking claims of supernatural ability. He had a $1,000,000 reward set aside for anyone whose abilities withstood his investigation. It ran from 1996 to 2015, and no one collected. He is perhaps most famous for exposing Uri Geller as a fraud live on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson, who also had magician training and an interest in debunking Geller. Randi also maintains that magicians are really necessary when debunking these charlatans, since they are a lot better at catching deliberate fraud than other researchers and scientists.

[[quoteright:300:[[Literature/TheMagicalMysteriesOfDonDiavolo https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diavolo.jpg]]]]

Who better to solve an "impossible crime" than someone who does the impossible for a living? The Magician Detective is a StageMagician who [[InterdisciplinarySleuth uses his skills with illusion to solve crimes]].

* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': In "Houdini Whodunnit", Harry Houdini fills this role, helping Murdoch to work out who a bank vault was robbed without any tampering with the lock.

* James Randi, a.k.a "The Amazing Randi", was a professional magician before turning his attention to debunking claims of supernatural ability. He has a long-standing $1,000,000 reward set aside for anyone whose abilities withstood his investigation. No-one has yet to collect. He is perhaps most famous for exposing Uri Geller as a fraud live on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson, who also had magician training and an interest in debunking Geller. Randi also maintains that magicians are really necessary when debunking these charlatans, since they are a lot better at catching deliberate fraud than other researchers and scientists.

* ''CharlieChan'' has to combine his detective skills with a magician friend's talents in ''Charlie Chan at Treasure Island''.

* Somewhat in ''VideoGame/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', where Apollo's assistant Trucy is a practicing stage magician. However, it doesn't come in particularly useful. She does work out a magic trick that's vital to solving the case very quickly, but refuses to tell you.

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