How this TikTok star enlisted Charli XCX for his debut TV show
'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.
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'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.'
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 protégé 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 up 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.
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'I had so much fun making this show, and I don't know if I could have said that five years ago,' he says. 'I think 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.
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!''
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