Social media comedian Benito Skinner aka Benny Drama speaks to L'OFFICIEL about assembling a gaggle of musicians, comedians, and thrill-seekers galore for a one-night-only Halloween bonanza online.

&quot;Comedians are notoriously&nbsp;hard to schedule,&quot; laughs Benito Skinner aka <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop%20culture/benny-drama-comedic-relief-during-pandemic">Benny Drama,</a> the YouTube actor, whose celebrity and character skits have repeatedly <a href="https://coveteur.com/2020/09/17/benny-drama-queer-crusader/">gone viral</a> during a time of global discontent and non-stop content. From the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kim-kardashian-west-givenchy-thong-fashion">Kardashians</a> to a precarious <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CEp2FMHhiXK/">hairstylist named Jenni</a> (note the i), Skinner&#39;s characters are as quick witted as they are meme-worthy, pocket-sized clips of humor made easy digestible&nbsp;for quick relief. As such, his latest project might be his most compelling&mdash;and ambitious&mdash;to date. A multi-talent variety show,&nbsp;Benny Drama&#39;s Night of Horror combines Skinner&#39;s emphatic hyperbole with his love of dressing up and several notable guest performances, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/best-drag-queen-fashion-of-all-time-rupauls-drag-race">Drag Race</a> victor Violet Chachki, Saturday Night Live&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/how-snls-chloe-fineman-became-the-comedian-we-need-right-now/2020/09/25/1698ded6-e95c-11ea-97e0-94d2e46e759b_story.html">Chloe Fineman,</a>&nbsp;musicians Charli XCX and Haim, viral sensations the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsU_2YEFu_I"> Cock Destroyers</a> and Jordan Firstman, as well as many more. The show, which airs via livestream this coming Sunday, is part produced&mdash;with recorded acts and interviews by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/justsydbw/?hl=en">Sydnee Washington</a> and <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/02/they-seem-cool-comedian-lauren-servideo.html">Lauren Servideo</a>&nbsp;pre-taped&mdash;and part live as Skinner himself plays host. &quot;I really wanted to take my time with some of the skits and sit with them and develop them and make them feel elevated,&quot; he tells L&#39;OFFICIEL of the creation process. &quot;I wanted to challenge the narrative of what variety&nbsp;shows could be.&quot; Below, the social media star reveals what to expect from his one-night-only Halloween event.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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L&#39;OFFICIEL: Where did the idea of&nbsp;<a href="https://onlocationlive.com/category/bennydrama">Benny Drama&#39;s Night of Horror</a> first come from?

BENITO SKINNER: <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop%20culture/best-celebrity-halloween-hollywood-costume-inspiration">Halloween</a> has always been incredibly important to me&mdash;maybe too much so&mdash;and I had the idea of doing a Halloween-themed film festival before the nightmare that we&#39;re living in now began. I really wanted to do it at <a href="https://www.dynastytypewriter.com/">Dynasty Typewriter</a> in LA, it&#39;s a beautiful theater and I love the people there. As live shows are obviously&nbsp;cancelled, I thought maybe it could become a virtual show where I could elevate some of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmLMXHTbUD-xtbPjW3Z0Qwg">my own videos</a> as well as reach out to some of the people that make me feel better&mdash;and have made me feel better&mdash;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&#39;s been truly a joy to make. I think people are going to feel that when they watch it. It&#39;s queer, it&#39;s campy, it&#39;s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CFdaWjQhjph/">me</a>!&nbsp;

L&#39;O: For someone who <a href="https://www.lifeandstylemag.com/posts/who-is-benito-skinner-benny-drama-talks-kris-jenner-and-astrology/">dresses up everyday</a>,&nbsp;what does Halloween&mdash;a holiday built around dressing up&mdash;mean to you?

BS: Like a lot of people still in the closet, as a kid <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/best-halloween-costumes-from-favorite-shows">Halloween</a> was kind of a saving grace for me. I remember dressing up as Willy Wonka in the fifth grade, and my parents were like, &quot;Are you sure you want to go school like this? Just checking&mdash;we love it&mdash;but just making sure?&quot; I was like, Fuck yeah, bitch, I&#39;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&#39;s such a part of me&mdash;I love being characters and dressing up&mdash;so the idea that Halloween might not&nbsp;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.&nbsp;

Halloween was always a moment where I felt like I could be myself and maybe be a little less judged for it.

L&#39;O: The line-up is a melting pot of creatives, from musicians to <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/categories/film-tv">comedians</a>, of course, and Internet personalities. How did you go about curating it?&nbsp;

BS: It really went from video to video. I thought it would be great if I had <a href="https://www.instagram.com/donte.colley/?hl=en">Dont&eacute; Colley</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/conor_mckenzie/?hl=en">Conor Mckenzie</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZKDV2Pi0Bo">Harper Watters</a>, Then I was doing a music video with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/charli-xcx-editorial-2019">Charli XCX</a>, 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&#39;re people who have inspired me and that have made art in 2020 that has helped me sleep better at night. Be it <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/haim-sexism-therapy-new-album-women-in-music-part-3">Haim&#39;s&nbsp;Women in Music Pt. III </a>&nbsp;or Charli&#39;s&nbsp;How I&#39;m Feeling Now&nbsp;or <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/story/jordan-firstman-instagram-impressions-secrets-interview/">Jordan Firstman</a> or <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/a33959638/meg-stalter-interview/">Meg Stalter.</a> 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.

L&#39;O: Either for Halloween or a skit, what do you think your most and least successful costumes have been?&nbsp;&nbsp;

BS: Oh my god. That is so hard. Ok, well I had no money, so my least successful costume was a few years ago when I was <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587310/">Maleficent</a>, because I was definitely using dollar makeup that was staining my skin and melting off throughout the night. Probably not my best look, but I had a lot of fun!&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-shopping/project-runway-1.37885242">Christopher Palu</a> does all my costumes now for Halloween. And because I&#39;m already in costumes all the time, we have to go extra hard for Hallowen. My <a href="https://www.popsugar.com/fashion/lizzie-mcguire-movie-diy-igloo-dress-video-47832377">Lizzie McGuire igloo dress</a> is always going to be really near and dear to my heart, and my <a href="https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/benito-skinner-dressed-as-kylie-jenner-at-met-gala-46838863">Kendall&nbsp;and Kylie</a> with my boyfriend last year was one of my best works. This year I&#39;m doing two costumes, and they&#39;re based off&nbsp;two of the costumes that I wanted to do when I was still in the closet but was too scared to because I thought they&#39;d out me. It&#39;s a full gag, I can&#39;t wait.&nbsp;

<a href="https://onlocationlive.com/category/bennydrama">Benny Drama&#39;s Night of Horror</a>&nbsp;will livestream on Sunday, October 25, at 8 PM EST.

Corona Won't Spoil Halloween for Benny Drama

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