Plain sight exploit

(Cf. "to hide in plain sight") In sevarfrith cultures, the tactic of pretending to be a stage magician, illusionist, prestidigitator, or other similar entertainer, so as to be able to perform wizardry in public without causing surprise or alarm to the general public.

The plain sight exploit often sounds like a good idea, but has a tendency to be, or become, more trouble than it's worth. A wizard who wants a break from wizardry can always fall back on concentrating on his, her or its work: whereas a wizard who's in "plain sight" is going to have to spend all his / her / its time doing either real or fake magic... a situation which is likely to become, over time, very wearing.

(See Anderson, John Henry.)