Corona Won't Spoil Halloween for Benny Drama

"Comedians are notoriously hard to schedule," laughs Benito Skinner aka Benny Drama, the YouTube actor, whose celebrity and character skits have repeatedly gone viral during a time of global discontent and non-stop content. From the Kardashians to a precarious hairstylist named Jenni (note the i), Skinner's characters are as quick witted as they are meme-worthy, pocket-sized clips of humor made easy digestible for quick relief. As such, his latest project might be his most compelling—and ambitious—to date. A multi-talent variety show, Benny Drama's Night of Horror combines Skinner's emphatic hyperbole with his love of dressing up and several notable guest performances, including Drag Race victor Violet Chachki, Saturday Night Live's Chloe Fineman, musicians Charli XCX and Haim, viral sensations the Cock Destroyers and Jordan Firstman, as well as many more. The show, which airs via livestream this coming Sunday, is part produced—with recorded acts and interviews by Sydnee Washington and Lauren Servideo pre-taped—and part live as Skinner himself plays host. "I really wanted to take my time with some of the skits and sit with them and develop them and make them feel elevated," he tells L'OFFICIEL of the creation process. "I wanted to challenge the narrative of what variety shows could be." Below, the social media star reveals what to expect from his one-night-only Halloween event.  

L'OFFICIEL: Where did the idea of Benny Drama's Night of Horror first come from?

BENITO SKINNER: Halloween has always been incredibly important to me—maybe too much so—and I had the idea of doing a Halloween-themed film festival before the nightmare that we're living in now began. I really wanted to do it at Dynasty Typewriter in LA, it's a beautiful theater and I love the people there. As live shows are obviously cancelled, I thought maybe it could become a virtual show where I could elevate some of my own videos as well as reach out to some of the people that make me feel better—and have made me feel better—during this time. Once I started getting into it, I realized that I had never felt that creative ever before. Something just clicked, and it's been truly a joy to make. I think people are going to feel that when they watch it. It's queer, it's campy, it's me! 

L'O: For someone who dresses up everyday, what does Halloween—a holiday built around dressing up—mean to you?

BS: Like a lot of people still in the closet, as a kid Halloween was kind of a saving grace for me. I remember dressing up as Willy Wonka in the fifth grade, and my parents were like, "Are you sure you want to go school like this? Just checking—we love it—but just making sure?" I was like, Fuck yeah, bitch, I'm wearing this. So Halloween was always a moment where I felt like I could be myself and maybe be a little less judged for it. In college I did really over-the-top costumes; like one year I was the mascot version of Elmo. Now, it's such a part of me—I love being characters and dressing up—so the idea that Halloween might not exist in 2020 made me so sad. I was like, Absolutely not. I decided I needed to go harder this year than I ever have because I wanted to make people feel a little less terrified and alone. I wanted to give people an event that they could dress up for and have that fun escape that I always felt like I had on Halloween. 

L'O: The line-up is a melting pot of creatives, from musicians to comedians, of course, and Internet personalities. How did you go about curating it? 

BS: It really went from video to video. I thought it would be great if I had Donté Colley, Conor Mckenzie, and Harper Watters, Then I was doing a music video with Charli XCX, and I felt like the show could use some dancing moments. Then the rest just came through really organically. I consider everyone in the show a friend. They're people who have inspired me and that have made art in 2020 that has helped me sleep better at night. Be it Haim's Women in Music Pt. III  or Charli's How I'm Feeling Now or Jordan Firstman or Meg Stalter. The guest list was super obvious to me, because I wanted to watch everyone that I watch before I go to bed. I just gave them a few bizarre ideas and asked them to be a part of it. Luckily they all said yes.