Imagine this:

You move out to Los Angeles immediately after college, with absolutely no friends in town and only a vague idea of how to make a living. Eventually, you get a great job, make some new friends, and settle down in the big city.

Then you quit your career to become a full-time magician.

Really.

Hi, I’m Joe Skilton, and I’m a professional magician. I’m also the newest member of the Things To Do staff. I’m very excited to be part of Things To Do.

Here’s a little bit about me:

I was born the exact day Star Wars came out. Ironically, I’m not a big fan. I wanted to be a magician when I grew up, but by the time I was in high school I decided to “be realistic” and get a college education.

I attended Ithaca College in upstate New York. I majored in advertising and television. After graduating, I moved out to Los Angeles in May 2000 and worked at the Grey Worldwide ad agency on Pedigree Food for Dogs. It wasn’t a glamorous account, but the people were wonderful.

I love advertising but it pays peanuts. When I got tired of the long hours and low pay, I moved into sales. The money was much better... but I wasn’t happy. Eventually, I decided to take the leap, quit the day job, and follow my childhood dream.

As a performing member of the Magic Castle, I helped arrange the Things To Do event there in March 2007. After going to some of the other events, and checking out the webpage, I wanted to be a part of the organization. Performing magic for living keeps my weekdays fairly open (there aren’t many cocktail parties at noon, after all), so I’ll be able to give TTD the attention it deserves.

As a Los Angeles transplant, I know how hard it is to make new business contacts and new friends in a big city. When I moved to LA in 2000, I only knew about 5 people, tops. I wish Things To Do LA existed then.

I’m very excited about what Things to Do has to offer. We’ve got excellent travel, terrific local events, wine tastings, and lots of uniquely “LA” plans in the works. As the organization grows, things are only going to get better!

To contact me personally, please email me at Joe@ThingsToDoLA.com or visit www.joeskilton.com. I’ll be at a lot of the Things To Do events, so please come up and say hi. I hope to see you there!