When the fear of coming-out causes laughs instead of tears

In his first series, Skinner plays a teenager named Benny, who has just had the high school and is now starting the exciting, freedom and independence promising college life. From the appearance as a self-confident football star to the choice of study, he has always met all the expectations brought to him from the outside.

Even more: Benny’s motto is – the title indicates – overcompensation. Because his primary goal has been to enthusiastic about his childhood since he as a boy in front of the television for the semi -naked Brendan Fraser in « George of the Jungle » and Britney Spears provided the soundtrack that nobody could see that he is actually gay.

In order to go through as a real hetero-bro, Benny not only tries to emulate the friend (Adam Dimarco) of his older sister (Mary Beth Barone), who is the same college. No, of course he also wants to « lay flat » a fellow student. It is good that the inexperienced outsider Carmen (Wally Baram) also wants to have sex as quickly as possible.

The first (party) night together is of course only successful. And that the cute film student Miles (Rish Shah) always crosses Benny’s path is not easier to suppress certain feelings.

No space for melancholy

« Overcompensating » is much more than just a coming-out comedy à la « Love, Victor », since this is about the very specific experience of how someone is not subconsciously hidden their identity behind seclusion and awkwardness, but behind a facade of excessive adaptation. The tone, which leaves little space for melancholy and tragicomics, which reveals many other autofictional series of the past few years, is also special.

Skinner has a lot more fun to turn the depiction of campus everyday life on the head too often in Hollywood and not least to use a classic-derben large-out humor.

Coupled with an almost endless parade of pop cultural gags and allusions that range from Nicki-Minaj-lyrics and a bow to Megan Fox in « Jennifer’s Body » to guest appearances by James van der Beek or Charli XCX, this results in a comedy series that tells like hardly any other of the gene Z.

It is of course part of the concept that Skinner and some co -stars are unmistakably too old to embody beginners too old to embody beginners. Because in addition to hearty sex jokes and touching cute there is also space for refreshingly large-scale absurdity.

The eight episodes of the first season of « Overcompensating » are available on Amazon Prime Video.