Magic tricks and con artists employ many of the same tricks. A convincing con is one so elaborate it looks like it'd be too expensive to perform, would require

Magic tricks and con artists employ many of the same tricks. A convincing con is one so elaborate it looks like it'd be too expensive to perform, would require way too much rehearsal if it was really a con, so people are lulled into complacency. Maybe it's that one form is being deceptive to entertain, the other to steal, but they have a lot of commonality.