History Main / MagiciansAreWizards

* A number of stage magicians in the early days claimed in advertising and/or in performances that their powers were actually derived from supernatural forces. Interestingly, the first book discussing what we now call stage magic was a book entitled "The Discoverie of Witchcraft."

* ''[[DirkGently Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' has Reg, a university dean who performs an impossible magic trick to entertain a restless little girl at a formal dinner. Nobody but the protagonist realizes this, and he decides to investigate. [[spoiler: As it turns out, there was TimeTravel involved.]]

* In one episode of ''[[{{ptitle4ih24d5a}} Magic User's Club]]'', Takeo performs magic for a group, and justifies it by saying "since they just think it's magic tricks, it's okay."

* The Prestige.
** More SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology...

* In RobertAHeinlein's ''Stranger In A Strange Land'', Mike (who was raised by aliens) decides to live as a magician for a while. Despite being able to make things magically float and disappear, he's really bad at the job because he utterly lacks human raconteur skills.

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' gives us Trixie, a magically-gifted unicorn who has a flashy, traveling stage show where she shows off her powers. (Although all unicorns are capable of some kind of magic, it's usually highly specialized; Trixie's specialty happens to ''be'' magic, which is apparently rare.)

* The titular WizardOfOz was a stage magician mistaken for the real thing when he landed in Oz. Later on, he began to learn real magic from Glenda.

But sometimes, in fiction, the lines between realism and fantasy begin to blur, and magicians really ''can'' perform feats of magic that would normally belong [[FunctionalMagic strictly in the wizards' territory]]. There are no smoke and mirrors here; the magic is all real, but the audience may not necessarily realize this, and think that the magician is relying on the same old sleights-of-hand.

In other words, some MagiciansAreWizards. See also {{Magick}}. When the FourthWall audience isn't sure, it's MaybeMagicMaybeMundane... OrIsIt ?

* ''TeenTitans'' 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 taken from him, 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.

* Not sure if this counts as an example, but in {{Kuroshitsuji}}, [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Sebastian]] pretended to be a StageMagician to create a distraction. To be fair, though, he did say there were no tricks involved.

* Who can forget that old ChristmasSpecial, 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 this 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).

* ''TeenTitans'' 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). 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. If his wand is taken from him, he loses his powers and reverts to his normal human form.

Characters of the first kind wear [[RobeAndWizardHat robes and pointy hats]], have long white beards, and can perform impossible feats such as raising the dead, casting spells, and summoning fabulous creatures. We call these kinds of characters ''wizards'' or ''sorcerers'', and they don't exist in RealLife. (at least, [[TheMagicGoesAway not]] [[HereThereWereDragons anymore]]) Characters of the second kind wear capes and top hats, usually perform their acts before a wide audience, (or at least 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'' or ''illusionists'', and they do exist in RealLife. But, of course, their magic is not real; they use misdirection, special effects and optical illusions to create the impression of magic.

[{AC:RealLife]]