ISYC Full Set by T-Tech

Alright, picture this: you hand over a deck of cards, they shuffle it, pick a card, and without you even touching the deck, you tell them exactly which card they chose. That's what the ISYC set does, and yes, it's as cool as it sounds. Everything's above board, no secret helpers or pre-show tomfoolery.

The ISYC, which stands for I See Your Card, is a clever bit of kit that lets you know which card's been picked without even looking. It's all designed to keep things feeling like your regular deck of cards. Your audience can shuffle and examine the cards to their heart's content, you'll still get it right every time. Magic, or just some very clever tech? You decide.

Now, magicians have been using marked cards and stacks forever, and if we're honest, it's always been a bit of a faff. You couldn't let people shuffle too much or inspect too closely. This set? Well, it lets the audience go wild, while you can stand back and enjoy a bit of the limelight.

Fitting a chip into a card without it feeling like you're holding a small brick was a bit of a task. We had some tech whizzes help us out, and after what felt like an era, we ended up with a chip thinner than a hair. The receiver's hidden away in a leather close-up pad, so nothing looks out of place.

What can you do aside from impressing your mates? For starters, you can handle up to nine cards at once, which opens up all sorts of routines, think multiple spectators or some fun mind-reading gigs. The tech does its job, leaving you to focus on not dropping the cards everywhere.

Here's what you get in the set:

• A Leather Close-Up Pad Receiver (32 × 23.5 × 1.3 cm), in black
• An Ultra-thin, red Electronic Deck (54 cards)
• A Digital Display Unit (40 × 30 × 18 mm)
• A Charging Cable

The Close-Up Pad can sit in standby for 8-10 days, plenty of time to forget where you left it, and the Display Unit gives you 3-4 hours of active use. Charging takes about 2 hours for the pad and 1 hour for the display unit. Once you've got it figured out, it's a doddle.