Forgotten Realms: Where in the Realms could this character be from?

[Coidzor]

So my current character idea is essentially a stage magician, either completely mundane or with only minor magical talents pertaining to entertainment. However, he inherited a spellbook, probably from an eccentric uncle, and became an actual Wizard.

Is there anywhere in the Realms where that could make sense or is it just pants on head stupid and I need to come up with something else? If so, what sorts of places could actually lead to a heroic wizard as opposed to a wizard who is either a more mercenary sort of adventurer or, well, a Witch of Rashemen or a stay-at-home Halruaan or a Thayan.

We're using a mix of 3e and 5e fluff for the realms, with a lot of the spellplague changes ignored or completely retconned by The Sundering.

[Honest Tiefling]

Where is the game taking place? Something closer to home seems more appropriate.

I would consider Cormyr or Sembia. Both don't have any laws against being a mage, and have independent mages. Sembia has a large class of wealthy merchants, so you could easily have a rich uncle that dabbles in magic. Both have (had, if Sembia exploded) urban centers, where being an entertainer makes sense. Neverwinter I don't remember too well, but I imagine it could work as well.
I could also see a wealthy person from Calimshan hiring a stage magician to entertain at parties, if you want to go with that route instead of performing for large audiences.

Basically, I'd pick an area with these parameters:

• Enough cities to have busking, street performers, or entertainers for middle class people.
• Fewer laws or taboos against magic, so not Amn.
• Stable history, because I doubt that people would be hiring a stage magician during a crisis.

[Darth Ultron]

So my current character idea is essentially a stage magician, either completely mundane or with only minor magical talents pertaining to entertainment. However, he inherited a spellbook, probably from an eccentric uncle, and became an actual Wizard.

Anywhere, really. It's more then vague enough.

Waterdeep, the Western heartlands, the Dalelands, all work just fine.

The ''best'' place might be Ravens Bluff as it is overly full of performers and ''circus'' type things(because reasons....).