THE INTERNET SENSATION BARES ALL — LITERALLY AND EMOTIONALLY — IN HIS DEEPLY PERSONAL, LAUGH-OUT-LOUD PRIME VIDEO DEBUT, “OVERCOMPENSATING”
by chris carpenter
Out comedian, actor, and online celebrity Benito Skinner may be best known for his online persona, Benny Drama. But, it’s time to ditch the personal “Benny” as Skinner debuts his new Prime Video series, Overcompensating. This semi-autobiographical saga premiered on the streamer on May 15, and all episodes are now available.
Overcompensating is a college-set ensemble comedy about the chaotic journey of Benny (played by Skinner), a closeted former football player and homecoming king. He becomes fast friends with Carmen (Wally Baram), a high-school outsider on a mission to fit in at all costs. With guidance from Benny’s older sister and her campus-legend boyfriend, Benny and Carmen juggle horrible hookups, flavored vodka and fake IDs. The show explores the lengths to which we can all overcompensate as LGBTQ+ individuals while we’re on the path to finding out who we really are.
Skinner did indeed play football at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, Idaho. He then attended Georgetown University and studied acting as well as film and media studies. He subsequently found success creating celebrity impression videos on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, plus his pop culture podcasts Obsessed and Ride.
Skinner recently spoke with The RAGE Monthly via Zoom about his first streaming series. Some questions and responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Hi, Benito, or do you prefer Benny?
Hi! Benito is great. I think if it gets into Benny, then it’s like, when I talk about my character, it makes me seem like I’m a crazy person. So it’s like “Are you good?” (laugh) So Benito is great.
Congrats on the show. It’s very funny and sexy in spots, but it really shines, I think, in the more serious or heartfelt moments during the course of the show. I’m sure this is the question everybody’s asking, but how factual or autobiographical is it?
It’s so hard to say. All of the moments of gay awakening and the coming-out experience, I think, are as honest as possible. You know, we went there. It really was George of the Jungle, and it really was falling in love with someone who couldn’t love me back. I tried to stay as sharp to it as possible.
But, you know, I love character. And so once I thought about these relationships, the relationships I had with a woman in college who changed my life, and my sister. I liked the “spy” being there in the form of the sister who kind of knew you in your past life. But my sister and I have never fought. We literally get along beautifully.
She encouraged me to go to the same college as her. So there are things like that where then you make a TV show and you build character, and I loved that aspect of it and I could do that forever. It’s so about why all of these different characters are overcompensating. That was like candy to me and to all of us in the writers’ room too once we got in there.
You started developing this as a one-man show, is that right? And did you think like “Oh, this is going to be a streaming series one day?” How did it all kind of develop and come about?
Yeah. I wish that I had been like, “this is going to be on a streamer one day.” (laugh) It’s funny, I was making sketches and Caroline’s on Broadway was like, “Do you have a show? We have the New York Comedy Festival coming up, and your sketches are hitting on the Internet.” And I was like, “Well, of course, I have a show.” I just needed to pay rent, and I knew that I could pay rent with that check. So I was like, “Well, yeah, I’ll make a show.”
The show immediately was these stories of me being in the closet, in college and in high school. While going out on the road — I toured it throughout the US and in London — I was just like this is hitting with audiences, and feels so cathartic for me, and it feels like people are latching on to these stories and they’re seeing themselves in it, even if they aren’t gay.
Then I had made a sketch, I think it was like A Kardashian Christmas or something, and my agent called me. He’s like “these sketches are feeling episodic; have you thought about writing a script?” And I was like “I have; I just can’t call myself a writer because, you know, they’ll come and get me.” (laugh) I was just like “I could never.”
The first scene I wrote was the pregame scene with Benny, Carmen and Haley and, honestly, so many of the jokes remain the same. It just felt like, “If I’m thinking about this idea of overcompensating at the time when I stopped overcompensating so much, that is when I met my best friend in college.” And what a perfect, I think, world and tapestry to pull from, of overcompensation and performative identity and performative sexuality. That was to me just like candy, and then we were off to the races.
I read online that some of your early comedic inspirations were Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire and (the animated character) SpongeBob SquarePants.
Of course. Yes. The greats. (laugh)
Who were some of your early gay or LGBTQ+ role models or inspirations?
You know, I was thinking about this. Rupert Everett and My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) was maybe the first time I saw myself, in a way. I remember watching the brunch scene where he sings “Say a Little Prayer,” and I was like, that’s me and my family saying, “Oh, this is so Benny.”
I remember being like “God, OK; well, don’t say it too loud.” And the fact that he ends up with Julia Roberts in that really stuck with me, and I feel like that was just my brain clicked a little bit. It was like, “Oh, that’s interesting.” So it would just be little things like that. But I think he’s so brilliant. And so I think that performance stands as this first time I really saw myself, in a way, and by a gay man, yeah.
It’s interesting you mentioned him because you actually kind of look like young Rupert Everett, especially when you turn your head and I see your profile.
(He’s pleasantly surprised.) Do not do this to me, do not. (To an assistant.) Emily, write that down! That’s the pull quote. This is, oh my God, I wish! You’ve made my life! Damn!
Sometimes, if I’m asked this question, I get really sad that I didn’t have any other (gay role models). I wasn’t seeking it and I grew up in Idaho, so no one was sharing that with me. It was maybe just being stuck in a movie theater and I could kind of see a hint of being gay on screen, and that was kind of my first inkling. And I was so scared of researching more, I think, that I didn’t. And I think that’s something that I feel fortunate that I got to do now and in my 20s.
I also read that you experienced some bullying and homophobia, and who doesn’t when we’re coming of age as gay men. But how about now? Given the current political climate in this country, have you gotten any pushback? Or are you concerned about any pushback to Overcompensating?
You know, I went to the White House during the Biden administration and made a sketch, and the response from conservatives was so unbelievably vile. I’ve heard everything at this point, so I don’t think I would care, to be honest. I was told that I should be put in camps. I was sent photos of guns. They found my parents’ numbers and asked them if I had AIDS.
I’ve experienced everything at this point, so if they have anything to say about Overcompensating, I don’t f–king care. I really don’t. I’m like, “Go ahead, you’ve done it all.” And, “Maybe you should watch the show; you’ll see some human empathy. I think you could use some; that would be really fantastic.” (laugh)
Absolutely.
I more worry for the cast, who maybe hasn’t been on the Internet in the way that I have and seen these comments, and known that they come from places of hate and boredom and insecurity and, I think, ignorance. I think, honestly, this question serves as maybe a reminder before the show comes out to my cast. They all know in part what they signed up for being in the show and are proud of the message of it, and I feel really lucky for that.
But, yeah, I think I would worry more for someone in my cast to be told one of these things, because those are like my babies now. You know what I mean? I’m like, “Don’t talk to my kids like that.” But as far as me, I’ve heard it all and haven’t all queer people, unfortunately. The thing that terrifies me the most is thinking that this is the response to me in the White House, and I am a cis, white, gay man, and I at times I can pass. That is what scares me the most for so many others in our community.
I hope you don’t get that but I’m glad that you’re prepared. It’s always good to be prepared. You mentioned your parents and your sister. Are you all still very close? Are they excited for the series and for your career?
Yeah. My sister just saw the first two episodes, which was so bizarre, but her response was she was crying, and it really was like this beautiful moment. My family is super excited. I think my parents are ready to close their eyes every now and then (due to Skinner’s nude scenes). I prepped them for that. I’m like, right around the 20-minute mark in the pilot. Let’s just shut them and enjoy a meditative moment. (laughs)
So they’re prepped for that. I mean, they’ve been with me the last eight years of my work, so they’ve kind of seen it all at this point. But they’re very excited and they’re having trouble, I think, in the same way I am of wrapping their heads around it existing and coming out, and that it’s finally happening.
I’ve been working on this for so long that they were like, “Is he lying?” And now they’re like, “Oh, we saw a commercial. This is happening. They’re putting it out.” They’ll be at the premiere, which will be so fun.
Is this intended to be a limited, just kind of one-season thing? Or is it open to future seasons?
Oh, I hope not; I need future seasons. Oh, my God! If I ended on that, could you imagine? No, I have four in my head, and I really I hope we get to keep going. I have so many more things I want to say, and more things I want to say about the experience of Benny’s experience, but also all the characters I think. These stories are intentionally not finished.
Awesome! Well, that’s all my questions. Anything you want to add or say that I didn’t ask about?
That was fantastic! It was so nice talking with you.
It was great talking with you! I wish you every success with the show, and I hope it goes on for four more seasons. And stay safe!
Thank you, we will!
Chris Carpenter has been writing about entertainment since 1996 and a member of Team Rage since 2012. He is a founding member and Vice President Emeritus of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.