Shannon Pritchett returned home to Oglethorpe County searching for inspiration. Pritchett, a former cruise ship magician, had been relieved from his job as a marketing director in Miami after the Great Recession, which ended in 2009.
He was a self-described “big drinker and partyer” at the time.
“It was a shock,” Pritchett said. “The drinking continued, I spiraled and hit rock bottom, but Jesus found me.”
Twelve years of sobriety later, Pritchett has firmly re-established himself in the entertainment industry, with an ambitious blueprint for the future.
Party DJ USA, his event production company, offers a wide range of services for those who want to turn their “ordinary event into an extraordinary experience.”
From mobile staging and extravagant lighting, to Pritchett himself, a professional entertainer since his teens, Party DJ USA has attracted clients from far and wide — including the political realm.
In 2022, Pritchett was hired by Vernon Jones, then a congressional candidate in Georgia’s 10th district, to help produce his public events.
“I just kind of approached him with, ‘Hey, I’ve got all of these props, I have a truss system, lighting and curtains, and I could join forces with you,” Pritchett said. “And that’s the way it started.”
Little did Pritchett know that his partnership with Jones, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, would spell a new chapter for his already zig-zagged career.
During the 2022 campaign, Trump invited Jones and his team — including Pritchett — to dine at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. After striking up conversations with new political friends, Pritchett was assigned to be a door greeter at the event.
“I could not have picked a better person,” said Patti Peach, a fundraiser for Trump’s campaign who delegated tasks that night. “He just had a lot of energy, a lot of passion.”
A few months earlier, Pritchett had never played a professional role in politics. Now, he was shaking hands with some of Washington’s most well-known figures and sitting poolside listening to a former president speak.
“There’s nobody in between me and President Trump except for a rope,” he said. “And I’m just like in a dream. That was just something spectacular.”
That night Pritchett made an impression which has seen him return to Mar-a-Lago several times.
He was invited to Palm Beach for Trump’s election night festivities and has plans to attend the president-elect's inauguration in January.
But as surreal as the events have been, Pritchett said his most meaningful work is taking shape inside the studio of his Winterville home.
Following years of catering services to weddings, birthday parties and corporate events, he has shifted his priorities to producing a “testimony through illusion” that tells the story of his recovered Christian faith.
After graduating from Oglethorpe County High School, a 19-year-old Pritchett hired an agent in Las Vegas to pursue a career in magic. He worked for various cruise lines and resorts, eventually ascending into marketing positions that brought about a lavish lifestyle.
“I was a big drinker and partyer, and it got out of control,” he said. “But because I was successful and it was part of the culture, it kind of just went.”
When Pritchett returned home after the financial crisis, he built a new relationship with God, to which he attributes his sobriety. A decade ago he first envisioned a show that combined his love for magic and religion, and now Pritchett is ready to bring his idea to life.
He plans to call his show “Reflection Factory.” The illusion display will feature a mobile set, Pritchett said, that will enable him to perform on the road, while maintaining Party DJ USA.
“Now the election is complete, I have everything I’ve hoped for and prayed for to make this production,” he said.