Ninja Sex Party

New York-based comedy act Ninja Sex Party crafts hook-driven, satirical anthems that fuse the bombast of 1980s rock and hair metal with sleek, synth-heavy dance grooves. Fronted by the playfully exaggerated personas of Danny Sexbang (Leigh Daniel Avidan) and Ninja Brian (Brian Wecht), the pair cultivated a devoted following through web videos and early releases such as the 2011 album NSFW and 2013’s Strawberries and Cream, each of which reached the top of Billboard’s Comedy Albums chart. Although comedy and their tongue-in-cheek nerd-hero characters remain central, the musicians approach their craft with seriousness, demonstrated by the continuing Under the Covers series of affectionate reinterpretations of material by a-ha, Van Halen, Boston, and similar acts.

Before Ninja Sex Party existed, New Jersey native Avidan completed an advertising degree and performed with multiple bands, while fellow New Jerseyan Wecht pursued a career as a theoretical physicist alongside occasional musical projects. The duo formed in 2009 after meeting through mutual acquaintances during improv workshops at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade theater. Envisioning themselves as an improbable superhero team, Avidan embodied the suave yet rakish Danny Sexbang while Wecht portrayed the mute, formidable martial artist Ninja Brian. They quickly began performing live, drawing sizable audiences, and soon released videos that appeared on prominent comedy platforms including Funny or Die, Dailymotion, and CollegeHumor. Their debut full-length, NSFW, arrived in 2011 and topped the Billboard Comedy Albums chart.

The follow-up Strawberries and Cream appeared in 2013, highlighted by the track “Unicorn Wizard,” and likewise claimed the number-one comedy position. Two years later Attitude City became their third consecutive chart-topping release. Around the same period Avidan and Wecht joined Game Grumps co-host Arin “Egoraptor” Hanson for the video-game parody project Starbomb, which issued its self-titled debut in 2013 and the sequel Player Select in 2014.

Departing from original material, 2016’s Under the Covers presented spirited yet sincere renditions of 1970s and 1980s favorites such as a-ha’s “Take on Me,” Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” A second volume followed in late 2017, featuring additional album-oriented rock staples by Toto, Asia, and Def Leppard. Returning to original songs, the 2018 album Cool Patrol was produced by Jim Roach—who had also worked on Starbomb and the Under the Covers releases—and included instrumental support from Canada’s Tupper Ware Remix Party along with the singles title track and “Daniel Don't You Know.” That same year the trio issued Starbomb’s third effort, The TryForce. In 2019 Ninja Sex Party delivered the third installment of their covers series and the fresh original single “The Mystic Crystal.”