Tri-County Tech Alumnus is S.C. Magician of the Year

CONTACT: LISA GARRETT, EXT. 2315

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/1/99
(By Lisa Garrett)

ANDERSON --- Tim Sonefelt remembers his first paid magic show performance well. He charged $50 for the birthday party performance, but by the time he drove to Woodruff and paid his assistant $20, he grossed $20, maybe. What he didn't make in cash, he figured he made up for in experience and exposure.

That was 1988.

A decade later, Sonefelt is still entertaining children, but his territory has expanded to several states and his venues have branched out to include banquets on the corporate level. He combines music, magic, comedy, audience participation and live animals in his after-dinner banquet entertainment. In 1998 he was named Magician of the Year by the South Carolina Association of Magicians.

Sonefelt, an Anderson native, holds an Engineering Graphics Technology degree from Tri-County Technical College and since 1988 has worked in the graphic design business. For the past eight years, he has worked as a full-time pre-press specialist at Tag and Label in Anderson. He takes his magic on the road during evenings and on weekends. He's already booking holiday events and this summer alone has scheduled around 30 children's summer reading programs in libraries across the state, in addition to his weekend gigs. He customizes each perfomance -- for example, he performed six tricks at a library recently - a routine for each book the children were reading.

He recently traveled to Georgia to give a presentation to the Future Farmers of America students. His message was tied to the meeting's theme: team building. "That's the challenge. I had six weeks to prepare," said Sonefelt.

"I love to perform magic, and it makes others so happy. I have just as much fun during the show as the audience does. My job is to entertain the audience and to do all I can to give the best performance I can," he said. He is scheduled to perform with some of the top magicians in the Southeast at the Newberry Opera House July 23 at 8 p.m.

Sonefelt discovered magic as an eight-year-old when his grandparents gave him a magic kit. He spent weekends with them, performing card tricks and advancing to sleight of hand and more challenging displays of magic. As he got older, his interest waned, but he rediscovered it when he was working in Greenville. "I spent many lunch hours at the magic shop in Greenville. I attended a meeting of the Magic Club and after two meetings and a successful eight-minute audition, was asked to join the club." When the magic shop owner suggested turning this hobby into a business, Sonefelt took his advice and has been performing ever since.

In 1997 he began moving in the direction of pursuing magic as a full-time career. His favorite tricks are the manipulative acts. "There are no props -- just the magician and the table." He used to own 15 doves and used eight of them in his manipulative act. He practices new close-up tricks (involving cards and coins) on his wife, Kristie. These days, he's got a new audience member, son Kerwin Chapman Sonfelt, born June 12.
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