 The two magicians compete together in a magic competition, despite their personal differences.Parts and ideas of the film have been taken to parody the 2006 film "The Prestige" by Christopher Nolan, though this had not been released when "Magicians" was filmed (though the original novel by Christopher Priest had been published in 1995).The film is directed by Andrew O'Connor and written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, who are also the writers of the Channel 4 sitcom "Peep Show", which stars Mitchell and Webb.