I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 2, 2024] Trey Magnifique

Just as I hadn’t heard of nelward, I hadn’t heard of Trey Magnifique.

He came on stage, a silver fox, in a while suit (with no shirt on).  He proceeded to fill the room with smooth jazz sex.

He won me over immediately by saying “If someone asks if you want to hear smooth jazz,” the appropriate response is “Hell Yea.”  So when we all shouted “Hell Yea!” he said, no our energy was too high.  Try whispering it.  So we whispered ‘Hell yea” and he said no that was too much, just think it.

He then proceeded to make obscene mouth gestures on his straight saxophone.   It was really funny.

And then finally, after about six minutes, he actually played a song.  It was cheesy smooth jazz, but he was great–his sax playing is really solid.

So who is this guy?

Trey Magnifique is the smooth jazz alter ego of musician, comedian, and theoretical physicist Brian Wecht. Best known for his comedy bands Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb, where he performs as the keyboard-playing “Ninja Brian”, as well as his kids’ band Go Banana Go, Brian is one of the most popular comedy musicians in the world. Mature Situations is Brian’s first album as Trey Magnifique, as well as his first solo project.

Brian grew up in Pompton Lakes, NJ, and, after studying math and music (with a focus on jazz composition, arranging, and performance) at Williams College, went on to get a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of California, San Diego. Wecht held postdoctoral research positions at MIT, Harvard, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the University of Michigan, and was a faculty member in the Centre for Research in String Theory at Queen Mary University of London. Wecht has authored over 30 papers in theoretical physics, focusing on supsersymmetric quantum field theories and string theory.

While pursuing his academic interests, Wecht began doing improv comedy with San Diego TheatreSports, and went on to become the Musical Director of the Improv Asylum in Boston, MA. After moving to New York, he met Dan Avidan through a mutual comedy friend, and the two created Ninja Sex Party in 2009. In 2015, Wecht left his faculty position at Queen Mary in order to focus on his YouTube career full time. In addition to NSP and Starbomb, Wecht’s projects include children’s comedy band Go Banana Go! (along with NSP producer Jim Roach), and the podcast Leighton Night with Brian Wecht (along with Leighton Grey). Outside of YouTube, Wecht maintains an active career as a public speaker and science communicator, and is one of the organizers of the annual Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS).

Incredible.  This guy is literally a genius AND he is funny as hell.

He said that even though we paid for the show tonight, HIS portion of the show was free.  We were paying for nelward and TWRP, but smooth jazz is free.  But he was sure to tell us that signed headshots were available at the merch table.

“Daddy Lawbreaker” was a similar smooth jazz song, but he blew my mind by playing a smooth jazz version of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

He made lots of jazz/music school double entrendres which were really funny if you know music jokes.

The best song/joke of the night was his experiment with jazz fusion.  He wasn’t fusing jazz and rock, he was fusing jazz and trap (and you can see a video of this fusion below).

His set was a solid 30+ minutes but he only played 5 songs.  The rest was just a ton of fun–funny jokes, funny stories and yes, signed headhsots.

I had no idea at the time that he was in Ninja Sex Party and that he was beloved far and wide.  But it made a lot more sense later on in the set.

I loved his set and hope  to see him again.

SETLIST

Satin Velvet
Daddy Lawbreaker
Pure Imagination
Jazz Trap Fusion
I Could Get Used to This