'Overcompensating' Review: Benito Skinner's Must-See Coming-of-Age Comedy Series Is So Much More Than Its Charli XCX Cameo

Benito Skinner — known online by his stage name “Benny Drama” — came into my life when I needed him most. Amidst the COVID pandemic, the world, and therefore, the cultural conversation, had never felt so fragmented. TikTok wasn’t the global phenomenon it is now, still dominated then by 16-year-olds doing horrendous and deceptively easy dance routines. I, a proud older Gen Z, couldn’t find anything to satisfy my pop culture appetite until I found Benny Drama’s Instagram and YouTube. Sketches ranged from the seventh and only gay member of the Friendsgroup who blows Gunther, or a useless Gen Z intern who nonchantanly tells clients over the phone that “Ms. Bosslady” can’t make the meeting because she’s getting “her p*ssy cleaned.” I had nirvana for the chronically online person. Not only were these sketches firmly on the pulse of his target audience’s interests and shifting humor, but they displayed a genuine comedic talent, with Skinner doing hilarious and disconcertingly apt impressions of celebrities ranging from James Charles to Kourtney Kardashianto Shawn Mendes.