This motorbike circus's death-defying tricks will make your jaw drop

Travis Pastrana, professional motorsports competitor and stuntman, performs in South Africa for the first time with his Nitro Circus, a stunt-filled, flying motorcycle extravaganza.

Since 2010, the circus has traveled around the world, playing to sold-out stadiums on five continents.

Now the global action sports phenomenon is coming to Joburg, Cape Town and Durban, where they'll be doing an all-new show filled with unbelievable world firsts and spectacular, death-defying aerial tricks.

We chat to Pastrana to find out more.

What can we expect from the Nitro Circus Live show?

South Africa is going to be our biggest show of the year; the guys are pumped. As an audience, get ready to bring your A-game. Get ready to cheer like crazy.

What do you love most about riding and racing?

It's hard work but if you do what you love, you never really work a day in your life. There have been a lot of injuries, but it's been a lot of fun.

What's been challenging?

The hardest transition was putting my own money into racing cars between the ages of 19 and 21. Everyone asked what I was doing and said that it was stupid. It was all work and passion. Then we started Nitro Circus, travelled the world, and found that there were a lot more people like us.

How's the tour going?

I've been racing rally cars pretty much full-time this year and then we just had the Nitro World Games, which was an awesome success. We've just done a tour in my home town [Annapolis, Maryland] so I was pumped about that. And to visit and perform in South Africa in the same year is awesome.

WATCH Nitro Circus Live's top 10 craziest tricks

How do you feel about all the travelling?

The only time that we let our kids watch their iPads is when we're on planes or on buses, so they love being on tour. But I think the hardest part is routine. We're always in different time zones but I love the destinations. I love to perform in a place like the O2 Arena in London and then go to Australia and perform in the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. It's been so much fun.

What's it like backstage before a show?

Even though some of the guys are doing up to 50 shows a year, every single time you go out there you're pushing the limits and trying stuff you've never tried. If you do something that you've done before, you know that the crowd - those people who have never seen it - are going to be stoked.

But the best thing is to push it and do something you've never done before. I love that excitement and having the crowd enjoy the adrenaline with me. Nevertheless, as you can imagine, it's a scary time before shows.

• Travis Pastrana's 'Nitro Circus Live' is in Cape Town at the Cape Town Stadium on October 21; in Durban at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on October 25; and Johannesburg at the FNB Stadium on October 28. Book at Computicket or Bigconcerts.

• This article was originally published in The Times.