A bank robber who paid a wizard $450 to make him invisible was nonetheless detected and overpowered during his Tehran heist. [Metro]

  • http://codeflow.org/ Florian Bösch

    Did the magic involve lemon juice?

    • Wreckrob8

      And setting fire to invisible robbers makes them reappear which proves they have been bewitched and must be drowned.

      • http://www.taoistskater.com/ james pisano

        That won’t work if he can float in water like “very small rocks.”

  • http://darkmobius.com Andrew Molloy

    I’m sure he has an excellent case to sue the wizard for breach of contract.

  • http://darkmobius.com Andrew Molloy

    Interesting the article has to distinctly describe “fake sorcerer”. I guess we should infer that we all consult reputable genuine sorcerers to not fall into the same trap.

    • CH

      He should have asked for Sorcerery Certifications. Any reputable sorcerer should have at least a handful of them.

      • knoxblox

         A good rule of thumb would be to ask the wizard for a demonstration before the sale was final, I think.

        • Antinous / Moderator

          He probably did.
          “So did it work? Am I invisible?”
          “Yes! I can’t see you at all.”
          “But I can see myself in the mirror.”
          “Well, of course you can see yourself. That’s how the spell works.”
          “Oh…. Well…. That’s all right then.”

  • http://2012diaries.blogspot.com/ tristan eldritch

    Man, if this guy had any sense he would have insisted on paying the wizard with money he’d stolen once invisible.

  • http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

    You just can’t find reliable wizards these days.

    • kinscore

       They’ve probably all turned themselves invisible.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Duanburge/100000313244887 Mark Duanburge

       ”These days” meaning 2006 of course.

      • http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

        I would count 7 years ago as ‘these days’ in the context of wizardry, yes.

  • peregrinus

    I think I’d be somewhat more cautious about paying someone to make me disappear.

  • Jake Rennie

    I’m getting a sudden sense of deja vu. Is it just me, or was this story already posted to BoingBoing previously?

  • CH

    $450??? Invisibility sure comes cheap these days! (Perhaps it is a scam, and you have to pay an obscene amount to be turned visible again.)

  • http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan

    Maybe he’ll also pay to make the story go away.

  • Felton / Moderator

    $450 only pays for about a half hour of invisibility.  It’s not the wizard’s fault if the robber wasn’t prompt.

    • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

       surprisingly that’s quite accurate.
      the standard formula is Spell level x caster level x 10$ + XP cost x 5.

      so that’s 2 x 4 x 10 x 5 which is 400 bucks.

      He must have given him a discount seeing that he’s level 5.

      • Snig

        A guard of a higher level may have cast dispel, or they could have a permanent anti-magic field up. 

    • http://codeflow.org/ Florian Bösch

      You should always RTFM for any magic spells you buy.

  • Steve White

    Everyone freaked out when money started floating around the room. That was the flaw in the plan.

  • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

    Did you make an attack action? Well there’s your problem!

  • http://twitter.com/rvitelli Romeo Vitelli

    He obviously shouldn’t have worn clothing which stayed visible.  Has he never seen Claude Rains movies?

  • Brainspore

    I bet that wizard disappeared with the money pretty quick.

  • silkox

    I’m afraid this might not be very funny in Tehran.

  • http://www.disoriented.net/ angusm

    You rush a miracle worker, you get lousy miracles.

  • fnc

    He wasn’t told that the invisibility spell only works when nobody is looking at you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/chengjih Cheng-Jih Chen

    Why is there no video of this???

  • http://blog.damn.org.za/ Eugéne Roux

    Sheesh… Obviously this was a *good* wizard. This guy was trying to use his power for *evil*.

    So while the wizard might have been slightly naïve (next time, please ask *why* he wants to be invisible… Hint: women’s locker rooms and banks are not good reasons!) but at least he cancelled the spell as soon as he found out.