Benito Skinner

Benito Skinner
Benito Skinner
	Skinner in 2024
Born	November 3, 1993 (age 31); Boise, Idaho, US
Alma mater	Georgetown University
Occupation	Comedian
Known for	Benny Drama

Benito Skinner (born November 3, 1993) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for his online persona Benny Drama, and performs celebrity impressions, skits, and original characters on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Early life and education

Skinner was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, and attended Bishop Kelly High School. While a senior in high school, Skinner founded the nonprofit OATHS, which stands for Organization Assisting the Homeless Student, and was recognized at the 2011 National Philanthropy Day Idaho.^[1] He also played on Bishop Kelly's football team as a wide receiver.^[2]

Some of his early comedic inspirations were Robin Williams in his role as Mrs. Doubtfire, and SpongeBob SquarePants. While he would perform renditions of Britney Spears and Destiny's Child songs for his family, he has discussed repressing some of his early proclivities toward performance and comedy due to bullying and homophobic comments.^[3]

He went on to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he studied acting, English, and film and media studies. In college, Skinner began experimenting with performance in the form of recorded lip syncs and other videos. He had created the @BennyDrama7 Instagram account in high school – with the "7" referencing his football jersey number – but only began to post comedic videos while in college.^[4]^[3]

While at Georgetown, Skinner was also the co-creator and host of BEAT$, a weekly campus radio show known for its pop music stylings.^[5]

Career

After graduating, Skinner worked as a video editor while continuing to create online content. In 2016, Skinner made his social media accounts public, and this early work developed into comedy videos on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.^[6]^[3] He is known for his celebrity impressions such as Shawn Mendes, Lana Del Rey, and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as for original characters such as Jenni the Hairdresser. He has described his work as fully rooted in pop culture.^[2]

In 2018, he performed his debut show "Overcompensating" at Carolines on Broadway to a sold-out audience at the New York Comedy Festival.^[7] He hosted the pop culture podcast Obsessed with Mary Beth Barone on Spotify for one season and 50 episodes.^[8]^[9] Skinner and Barone launched a new pop culture podcast, Ride, in 2023.^[10]

In 2024, Skinner starred in Chelsea Peretti's first feature First Time Female Director.^[10]

Skinner will star, executive produce, and write in the series Overcompensating for Amazon Prime Video.^[11]

Personal life

Skinner is gay, and came out in his senior year of college. He has been in a relationship with director and photographer Terrence O'Connor since 2016. They reside in Los Angeles, California. They are known for their elaborate and carefully constructed annual couples' Halloween costumes.^[12]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	Hitbox	Scooter	Episode: "Climax"
2021	Search Party	Nate	Episode: "Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig"
2021–22	Ziwe	Kim Kardashian / Willet	2 episodes
2022	Queer as Folk	Jack Cole Jordan	4 episodes
2022	The Kardashians	Himself	Episode: "Bucket List Goals"
2023	First Time Female Director	Rudy
2024	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Salesman	Episode: "The Lawn Jockey"
TBA	Overcompensating	Benny	Also writer and executive producer