Award-winning performer Sean Alexander, known to raving audiences as The Confusionist, is a leading illusionist, stage magician, and mind reader. We asked him to write about his experiences of touring internationally.
The purpose of performing live….to create moments of shared reflection.
It’s 4am in Dubai and I’m standing in line at the airport, running on fumes after performing just hours earlier. We’ve packed down the show, grabbed our cases, and now we’re heading straight to Mumbai. We land at 8am, go straight to the theatre, and begin setting up for that night’s show. No hotel, no pause - just unpack, rig, test, tweak. At some point in the afternoon, we manage to snatch two hours of sleep; just enough to function for the tech rehearsal. And then we’re on again, performing Moments in Time to a brand-new audience in a completely new country.
When I created Moments in Time, I thought I was building a show. In hindsight, I was also building a test: of stamina, of connection, of adaptability. The show’s shorter festival version—1 Moment in Time - debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe, where the buzz, chaos, and energy shaped its identity. But taking the full production overseas and then touring it across the UK taught me something far deeper….how much art depends not just on what you create, but how you carry it through unfamiliar spaces.
There’s something thrillingly surreal about walking off a plane and straight into a technical run-through in a venue you’ve never seen. You cling to your routines like a lifeline…check the props, test the lighting, stretch, breathe, go. Then it’s all adrenaline. The audience was warm, generous, and sharp. The show landed beautifully. You get that instant jolt of satisfaction. But as anyone who tours knows, there's always another hurdle on the horizon.
Sleep becomes a luxury. Food is whatever you can grab between airports. The mental load of logistics, language, and cultural dynamics mounts quickly. And then the gut punch….my partner’s bag, stolen in a moment. Cash gone. Frustration high. Emotions frayed. And yet, the curtain still comes up. Because it has to.
You learn something about yourself in those moments; not as a performer, but as a human being. Can you still give everything, even when you feel like you have nothing left? The answer, I found, is yes. You can. But not because you’re pretending everything’s fine. Because you’re fully present. That’s the magic. That’s what audiences respond to. Not just the tricks or stories; but the effort, the truth, the real-time vulnerability that seeps into the performance when your guard is down and your instincts take over.
I used to think you needed to be fully “on” to give a good show. Touring stripped that illusion away. You don’t have to be 100% to connect with an audience. In fact, it’s often when you’re at your rawest….stripped of comfort, familiarity, and sometimes even sleep; that something truly meaningful happens.
Back home, the UK tour of Moments in Time brought its own revelations. Every venue had a distinct energy. Some audiences sat quietly, processing each moment, while others audibly responded to the emotion on stage. One night we’d be in an ornate theatre with a full lighting rig, the next in a more intimate community space. Each night demanded something different. But in every town, people found something in the show that resonated with their own lives. And that, to me, is the purpose of performing live….to create moments of shared reflection.
I’ve often been asked what the biggest challenge is when taking a show on the road. The logistics are intense, yes. The schedule is relentless. But the emotional toll is equally demanding. You’re constantly adapting; new time zones, new audiences, new rules. You’re homesick, jet lagged, drained. But the moment you walk on stage, something shifts. There’s a strange peace that comes with it. A kind of alignment. Everything falls away, and you remember why you do it.
Performing overseas has a unique way of testing your assumptions too. You quickly realise how culturally coded humour and storytelling can be. A line that draws a laugh in Leeds might get silence in Dubai, but then something unexpected lands even harder. These moments make you rethink how you build connection; not through language, but through authenticity, vulnerability, and presence. They push you to become a better, more intuitive performer.
It’s not all hardship, of course. Touring is filled with beautiful moments too….striking up late-night conversations with the team, catching sunrises from hotel balconies, sharing stories with strangers who were once your audience and are now part of your journey. There’s immense joy in witnessing your work cross borders and still make sense to someone who grew up on the other side of the world.
If you’re a performer thinking about taking your work on the road…..especially internationally; here’s what I’d say: your biggest asset won’t be your tech rider, or even your material. It’ll be your resilience. Your ability to reset, to adapt, to show up at your best when you feel at your worst. And maybe more importantly, your ability to stay open…..to the differences, to the discomfort, to the joy of reaching someone totally new.
Moments in Time isn’t the same show I premiered in Edinburgh. It’s grown, stretched, been shaken and reshaped by the places I’ve taken it. And yet at its core, it’s still about what connects us; and how time, no matter where you are in the world, can be bent, shared, and deeply felt.
Website: http://seanalexandermagic.com/
