like magic

“Dr. Parker’s pink glasses looked like magic spectacles in the lava-lamp interior of Wayne’s Bar.”

Simon & Schuster: DARK SECRETS Don’t Tell

““Cape gooseberry” (PHYSALIS MIMIS), which appears like magic when the jungle is felled and burnt off, is regarded with hostility, though unworthily, even by the blacks; the” wild” grapes are sour and fiery, and among the many figs only two or three are pleasant, and but one good.”

The Confessions of a Beachcomber

“I asked myself in astonishment; but the mystery was soon explained: for like magic the small knives in the hands of the porcelainists transferred the contents of the cups to the faces of the twelve gentlemen sitting in a row.”

Man's Rights: or, How Would You Like It?

“The tank of soapsuds, and the air-pumps to inflate the bubbles, were out of sight beneath, so that when the bubbles began to grow upon the floor of the platform it really seemed like magic to the people of Oz, who knew nothing about even the common soap-bubbles that our children blow with a penny clay pipe and a basin of soap-and-water.”

Fictionaut: Love Letters