How did a TikTok star enlist Charli XCX – one of the most in-demand names in pop culture after “brat summer” – to work on his show?
Two margaritas certainly helped, says Benito Skinner, aka social media sensation @BennyDrama7 and the creator-star of Overcompensating, an irreverent new comedy based on his time at college masquerading as a straight jock.
Benito Skinner (right) stars in his new show Overcompensating. Credit: Jackie Brown/Prime
“We were at a party, and I told my boyfriend, ‘Oh my god, that’s Charli XCX. I need to pitch her my show.’ He was like, ‘That feels bold, but go for it! Live your life,’” Skinner says.
Charli signed on a few days later as executive producer. Not only are her songs mixed in with original cuts of glittery, pulsating electronica and ethereal interludes, but she also cameos as an ultra-brat, demanding cocaine from students to get through a decidedly un-chic college campus gig, filmed in-between the real Charli’s arena shows last year.
“I think that’s what makes her such a visionary,” Skinner says. “She’s interested in everything, [even] some random gay guy who’s drunk at a party saying, ‘Will you score my show?’ She’s just like, ‘Send me the script, babe.’”
But Charli’s just one of several noteworthy names throwing her weight behind the show. Overcompensating’s cast includes Kyle MacLachlan, Megan Fox, Kaia Gerber, James van der Beek, SNL star Bowen Yang, and White Lotus graduates Connie Britton and Adam DiMarco.
Behind the camera, it’s backed by Jonah Hill’s production company Strong Baby and zeitgeist-shapers A24 (Everything Everywhere All At Once, Babygirl): not bad, considering it’s Skinner’s first major foray into comedy beyond a few minutes.
Skinner, 31, started posting videos under @BennyDrama7 – the number a nod to his position as wide receiver on his high school football team in Idaho – online in 2016, after coming out as gay in his senior year of college.
But it was COVID lockdowns that saw him gain millions of followers with his pop-culture-skewering skits and exaggerated celebrity impressions. Vogue UK called him “the only funny thing to happen in 2020” – all helpful pushes, as he had already been shopping Overcompensating around, built off his first stand-up show in 2018.
“I feel so privileged that I got so much time [to develop the show] because I think when all the things were in place, I knew everything I wanted. Everyone who joined knew the tone and the world that we wanted.”
There’s also a steady stream of TikTok-famous faces cameoing, including comedians Tommy Do, Caleb Hearon and Boman Martinez-Reid.
While hits such as Abbott Elementary and English Teacher have cast from social media and proven it works, it was still something Skinner had to fight for.
“I don’t think there is as much of a difference any more between someone who can entertain us on our phones or with TV,” he says. “I feel so lucky to give those people a chance to show their talents.”
There’s a simple reason why Overcompensating has attracted so many names, online or otherwise – and it’s not just margaritas. It’s very funny; a raucous American campus romp of drinking games, hazing rituals and study-break sobs.
Set in the mid-2010s, it’s a period of max zillennial cross-appeal, allowing for punchlines about both Alison Roman and Amanda Knox, as well as needle drops of obnoxious EDM and Charli-approved alt-pop (Like A G6, Uffie, Sky Ferreira).
Overcompensating leans into the chaos with frenzied storylines that capture the messiness of being an undergraduate, ready to do anything – and anyone – to be liked.
“I hope that there is this communal laugh that everyone can have watching it being like, ‘God, I can’t believe we did this shit,’” says Skinner. “Everything felt so big, and the stakes felt so high! And they were, to a degree.”
Benny (Skinner) and Carmen (Wally Baram) become fast friends on their first day at fictional Yates University.Credit: Amazon Prime Video
At Overcompensating’s heart is Benny – a closeted teen compelled to keep up the jock persona he cultivated as high school valedictorian and gridiron star, all true to Skinner’s experiences. Benny can walk and talk “bro” with ease, dropping his voice and vocabulary to the ground to fit in.
While immediately embraced by frat leader Peter (DiMarco) as a protege and quickly landing potential beard Carmen (Wally Baram), Benny’s constantly on edge as he worries any little movement could give the game away.
But sometimes, the mask slips in a moment of fun, as Benny reveals he loves Glee or raps Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass to a baffled room of pre-gamers, only to straighten up, completely mortified. These moments are played for laughs, but the pain underneath resonates.
“I had so much fun making this show, and I don’t know if I could have said that five years ago,” he says. “It would’ve felt a little too raw.
“Going back, I think it allowed me to forgive myself for not coming out sooner. I’ve been so hard on myself the past 10 years, thinking … ‘I missed out on so much.’”
It’s funny to consider your early 20s as a late coming out. But that’s reflected in the last decade’s coming-of-age comedies, such as Sex Education, Never Have I Ever, Booksmart, PEN15 and Big Mouth. While all offering diverse takes on the sexual conquest comedy – a genre once held firmly in the hands of Seann William Scott – they’re all centred on high schoolers.
University life remains largely untouched, save for under-watched sitcom The Sex Lives of College Girls – a world away from Overcompensating’s jock-run campus.
Benny (Benito Skinner) and Miles (Rish Shah) in Overcompensating.Credit: Courtesy of Prime
As with his online impressions, Skinner’s show skewers bros with love – and Benny is far from the only guy whose hyper-sexualised boasting or wolf cries feel forced.
“Performative masculinity is something I was around so much, and I participated in,” Skinner says of his college days. “I would see guys where I thought, ‘This doesn’t feel that normal on you either – and you’re not gay!’”
Overcompensating streams on Amazon Prime Video from May 15.
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