How Dan Avidan Went from a Struggling Musician to a YouTube Sensation

How Dan Avidan Went from a Struggling Musician to a YouTube Sensation
 

Who is Dan Avidan?

American singer, actor, social media star and YouTuber Leigh Daniel ‘Dan’ Avidan, was born in Springfield, New Jersey USA, on 14 March 1979, making Pisces his zodiac sign. He’s perhaps known best for being a member of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party, with the other member being American musician and theoretical physicist Brian Alexander Wecht; Dan’s also a member of the rock ‘n’ roll duo Shadow Academy, and the rap comedy musical group Starbomb.

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Education and early life

Dan was raised in Springfield alongside his younger sister Dana Avidan Cohn, by their father Avigdor Avidan and mother Debra (nee Schwartz); Avigdor was originally from Israel and fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 prior to moving to the US where he met Debra. Dan’s sister is today working at PopSugar as their executive style director.

Dan studied at Jonathan Dayton High School, and was mostly into music during his years there; he also appeared in a couple of school plays, and enjoyed playing soccer. He matriculated in 1997, and then enrolled at Boston University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 2001.

Career as a musician

Dan joined the indie rock ‘n’ roll band Northern Hues in 2002 as their lead singer; other members of the band were Ian Creech, Justin Earlye, Alex Yaker, Jeff Rains and Aron Brand. Their debut extended play (EP) “The Northern Hues” was released in 2004, and was followed by their second “World Café Live” in 2005, but they split by the end of the year.

He and Peter Lennox formed their rock ‘n’ roll duo Skyhill in February 2006, and their album “Run With the Hunted” was released on 16 May 2007 – they disbanded a couple of months later, but reunited on 7 October 2015, when they released their new single “Firefly”. Skyhill released another single “Howling at the Moon” on 30 October 2020, and they then revealed that they were working on a new album.

Dan and Brian Wecht founded their comedy musical duo Ninja Sex Party in 2008, and Dan chose ‘Danny Sexbang’ as his ‘character’, while Brian chose ‘Ninja Brian’. The duo revolves around a Jewish superhero whose best friend is a ninja, while their songs are about dicks and flirting with women; Ninja Sex Party has released five albums to date, most of which have charted on Billboard.

Dan’s also known for having hosted of the Let’s Play web series “Game Grumps” since 2013.

YouTube channel

Dan launched his YouTube channel “Dan Avidan – Topic” on 21 December 2013, and there are today over 7,000 people subscribed to it; he hasn’t uploaded a single video onto the channel but is nevertheless highly popular on the network, as many videos featuring him have been uploaded onto other channels. We’re going to cover three of the most popular videos on YouTube which feature Dan.

His #1 video “Cool Patrol – NSP” was uploaded by Ninja Sex Party on 18 October 2016, and it’s since been watched close to 20 million times; it’s Ninja Sex Party’s original song.

Dan’s second most popular video “TWRP – Starlight Brigade (feat. Dan Avidan)” was uploaded by TWRPtube on 23 May 2019, and has been watched more than 18 million times.

His #3 video “Take On Me – NSP” was uploaded by Ninja Sex Party on 23 February 2016, and has been viewed close to 15 million times; it’s another Ninja Sex Party’s original song.

Presence on social media networks

Dan’s highly popular on several social media networks, and is today followed by more than 700,000 people on Instagram; he’s posted nearly 700 pictures onto the network, and most of these show him during his everyday life, whether he’s spending time with his cat, travelling around the world or performing music.

He uses Facebook only to stay in touch with his closest friends and family members; Dan’s been active on the network since September 2016, and his account numbers 175 friends.

Dan’s today helping run the Twitter account ‘Game Grumps’, which was launched in July 2012; it numbers over 2.1 million followers and close to 14,000 tweets.

Love life and marriage

Dan avoids speaking about his love life in public, however, in an episode of “Game Grumps” posted on 2 February 2022, he revealed that he and Ashley Anderson had married a couple of months earlier.

Ashley’s an American animator, screenwriter and director, and is perhaps known best for having worked in the animation department of the 2017 short animated romantic film “Extinguished”, which she also wrote and directed, the 2018 animated adventure comedy movie “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”, and the 2019 animated adventure comedy series “Ask the StoryBots”.

Dan’s yet mention other women whom he’s maybe dated, he’s married to Ashley Anderson as of May 2023, and doesn’t have children.

Interesting facts and hobbies

Dan and his bands have covered a number of hit songs, such as A-Ha’s “Take On Me”, Elton John’s “Rocket Man” and Toto’s “Africa”; they also covered Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round”.

He created the online series “Dirty Shorts”, which aired on the YouTube channel ‘MondoMedia’ – fans of the channel hated Dan.

He loves his pet cat, and it can be seen featured in many of his Instagram pictures and videos.

He’s a huge fan of dinosaurs.

Dan loves to play video games and has also voiced characters in several, including Daniel the Monster in the 2017 “Pinstripe”, Dan in the 2017 “House Party” and Fellow Student in the 2018 “Monster Prom”.

He’s a fan of American comedy rock ‘n’ roll duo Tenacious D, and the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords.

One of Dan’s favorite actors is the late Robin Williams, and some of his favorite movies include “Man of the Year”, “Happy Feet Two” and “Old Dogs”.

Height, eyes and wealth

Dan’s age is 44. He has brown eyes and long brown hair, is 6ft 2ins (1.89m) tall and weighs around 185lbs (84kgs).

Dan’s net worth’s been estimated at over $4.5 million, as of May 2023.

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