Moein Al Bastaki
Moein Al Bastaki (معين البستكي ) (born 29 August 1980) is a magician, mentalist and illusionist from the United Arab Emirates.[1] Moein is best known for his street magic, large illusions, and performing close up magic for international and Arabic celebrities.
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Early life
Moein Al Bastaki was born and raised in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is the eldest of four siblings. His love of magic began at a very young age. His grandfather, a trader, would return from trips oversees with magic tricks that he had learned. The first trick that Moein ever witnessed involved the disappearing and reappearing of a coin, which fascinated Moein and embedded a passion for the art of magic in a six-year-old child. He first performed aged 9 in a magic show that he prepared for his family. The show was not very successful, and his tricks were not well received, but his uncle paid him 5 UAE dirhams as a reward for his performance. A star was born. Moein’s father, Mohammed Al Bastaki, was the owner of a video rental shop, and as a young child, Moein became fascinated with the David Copperfield Show (1986). As his love for magic grew, he began studying the work of other internationally renowned magicians, and developing his own Arab inspired magic tricks. Moein’s biggest inspiration is Derren Brown, who triggered a passion for mentalism.
Education
Moein graduated from Emam Malik school in 1998. He then attended Dubai University College where he graduated, with a bachelors in Business, in 2004. Having been deprived of an education himself, Moein’s father disagreed with Moein’s choice of career, and insisted that his son focus on education instead, so Moein continued with his studies and obtained a Master’s degree in marketing from the University of Wollongong in Dubai in 2008.
Magic Career
Moein began his magic career in 2005 with small performances for friends and relatives. His first professional performance was in 2005 for a New Years Eve event in Dubai. From 2005 until 2010, Moein performed close up magic and stage shows at a range of events and festivals across the UAE. He finally began performing on TV and radio, with his first appearance on Sama TV in 2010. Since then, Moein has performed publicly and appeared on a number of Arabic TV shows, most recently as a weekly guest on Men El Akher, on DMTV.
Celebrity
Moein has performed tricks for a number of internationally recognized celebrities including John Travolta and Mike Tyson, WWE stars such as The Miz, John Cena, CM Punk and R-Truth, sports personalities such as Diego Maradona and Fabio Cannavaro. He has also performed for a number of famous Arabic celebrities including Sami Yusuf, Abdulhussain Abdulredha, Hayat El Fahad, Saad Al-Faraj, Ibrahim Al Sallal, Jasim El Nabhan, Ahmed El Sakka, Ahmed Bedair and Dawood Hussain.
TV Appearances
Moein has appeared on a number of TV stations including MBC, Al Arabiya, CNN, BBC, Abu Dhabi TV, Dubai One, Dubai Television, Dubai Sports, Rotana, Qatar TV, Orbit TV, DMTV and Future Television, and radio stations including MBC FM, Panorama FM, Saudi Radio and Dubai FM He has appeared on the following shows:
- Men El Akher
- Ya Halla (Rotana)
- Saba Al Kheir Ya’Arab (MBC)
- MBC this week
- Inside the Middle East
- Al Forsah (Sama Dubai)
- Studio One (Dubai One)
- BBC World News
References
Additional sources
- Emirati illusionist plans to open magic school in Dubai
- Tempo Planet "Magical Moein"
- Time Out Dubai "Moein Al Bastaki: UAE's only magician"
- Moein Al Bastaki Wows Travolta
- FirstPost "Moein Al Bastaki Performing a magic trick with the WWE Superstar John Cena in Dubai & Abu Dhabi "
- Magicaean World Magic News "Dubai based magician Moein Al Bastaki recently posted this encounter with private airline pilot and actor John Travolta."
- Khaleej Times "Passion not an illusion"
