_3000.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&crop=3%3A2)
One hundred and eight million people follow Benito Skinner, aka Benny Drama, on Instagram. In case you’re not one of them, his schtick is this: impersonations, skits and celebrity caricatures designed to go viral on reels and TikTok. He almost always succeeds in making them do so, and his impersonations of Shawn Mendes, Lana Del Rey, Sabrina Carpenter and Kourtney Kardashian regularly rack up tens of millions of views.
Skinner is a product of the Amelia Dimoldenberg, Rachel Sennott, Emma Chamberlain generation that has turned online virality into real, commercial success. And what better mark of success than a deal with Amazon Prime? (We’re all looking at you, Phoebe Waller-Bridge.)
Overcompensating is an eight-episode comedy series written and produced by Skinner, where he also stars as the central character, Benny. Essentially, he’s playing himself in a rough retelling of his closeted college experience at the fictional Yates University, where sex is everywhere and being straight is everything. Fortunately for us, Skinner mines endless humour from an objectively depressing situation, playing on his failed sexual escapades with women, his foray into hyper-toxic frat culture and his agonising first crush on a straight man.
But Skinner is only one small part of the appeal. The stellar supporting cast is what makes Overcompensating so deeply watchable: it’s catnip for netizens. This includes cult comedian Mary Beth Barrone, who plays Benny’s bitchy-but-benevolent sister Grace, and The White Lotus alum Adam di Marco, who is Grace’s alpha-jock boyfriend, Peter. Di Marco is an unquestionable standout, bringing empathy and hilarity to an otherwise detestable character. His performance is so successful that it will undoubtedly turn him into the unlikely internet boyfriend of the moment – I can see the fancams being prepped already.
Di Marco’s charm is matched only by co-star Wally Baram, who plays Benny’s awkward, well-intentioned best friend, Carmen. It’s the scenes between unlikely allies Carmen and Pete that take the series from hilarious to captivating, with a particularly memorable moment in episode five, which is set perfectly to the soundtrack of Charli xcx’s Party 4 U. (The pop star scored the entire series and also cameos as herself in this same episode).
But let’s not undersell just how funny Overcompensating is: a running joke about Amanda Knox in the first episode had me sold, as did a moment where Carmen plays a drinking game called “Edward 40 Hands” so successfully she has to go to A&E.
There are countless laugh out loud moments: a surprising number of the jokes hit, hard. Another highlight comes during the Charli xcx episode, where the Von Dutch singer hosts a concert at the university. Whenever anyone references the “Charli” concert to Di Marco’s character, he consistently, excitedly responds “Puth?!” in true frat bro relatability, and it lands every time.
Then there’s Carmen’s hyper-sexual, hyper-hyper flatmate Hailee (played by Chelsea Holmes), who somehow manages to sell a very obvious, episode-long segment of Zara product placement with panache. You can’t say that about many people.
In addition to Charli xcx, Overcompensating is also littered with cameos. Skinner has clearly enlisted his Los Angeles crew of famous girls and gays to pop up throughout the series, which means that we get to see Las Culturistas podcasts hosts Matt Rogers and (SNL regular) Bowen Yang, as well as Owen Thiele and Kaia Gerber. James van der Beck and Megan Fox also pop up.
But that’s not all! Connie Britton and Kyle Machlachlan feature as Benny’s brilliantly overbearing parents, Kathryn and John. Their comedy skills are put on show during the Thanksgiving episode, where the parents illustrate their empty nest adjustments: Kathryn has adopted five chow chows and named them all after Maroon 5 songs, and John has added a “feature wall” to every room in the house.
In a recent interview with GQ, Skinner explained how glad he is to be moving away from impersonations. “I haven't really done one in a while — and I do kind of feel like I sleep better at night,” the comedian said. I have to agree. With Overcompensating, Skinner has truly found his footing. Hopefully its release today will be the success it deserves, and Skinner will put the impersonations to bed. He’s got better things to be doing now. Like making a season two.
Overcompensating is streaming on Prime Video
