Instagram star behind viral 'Queer Eye,' Kim Kardashian impressions talks comedy, coming out

There's a reason why breakout comedian Benito Skinner has captured the attention of celebs.

His impressions have earned praise from his subjects, like Jonathan Van Ness, who has left comments complimenting Skinner on his turn as the "Queer Eye" cast, and Khloé Kardashian, who shared a turn as Kim Kardashian to her Instagram story.

Though he started making sketches about three years ago on Instagram, Skinner has already worn many hats (or wigs) for his work, impersonating celebrities from the Kardashians to Noah Centineo to Anna Wintour. In addition to his celeb impressions, the 25-year-old has also created a slew of his own wacky personas.

A key feature of Skinner's career makes his path for laughs different from most. While some comedians cut their teeth in comedy clubs or debut impressions on "Saturday Night Live," Skinner got his start in a more millennial-fashion: by posting on social media.

"They've just been an amazing platform to share my work with as many people as possible, and that work is free which I think is also a really beautiful thing," Skinner told USA TODAY, when asked about social media's role in his career.

Post by benitoskinner7.

After graduating from Georgetown University with an English degree in 2016, Skinner began uploading short sketches to his Instagram account, @bennydrama7. Since then, his account's amassed more than 672,000 followers, with many of his sketches going viral on social media, like his "Dating a Gemini" video and Elle Woods-inspired Harvard Law School app for Kim Kardashian.

Though he has many characters up his sleeve, most of Skinner's sketches involve him donning flashy make-up, low-cut dresses and bright, colorful patterns.

Skinner said he sees his larger-than-life comedy as "directly linked" to his sexuality.

"I came out my senior year of college," he said. "It just kind of felt like everything I had hidden for so long from myself and from the people around me and from the Internet just kind of like flooded. It came out of me."

For Skinner, comedy has been a way of embracing what he bottled up inside for so long.

"I think a lot of my sketches, whether it be Gossip Girl or Lizzie McGuire, are me kind of reconnecting with things that I feel like I wasn't able to fully express my love for at the time," he said.

(Note: This video is NSFW due to brief language.)

Skinner lives in New York City, but he grew up in Boise, Idaho, where he says he had an "American, very stereotypical, high school experience." In fact, the "7" of his Instagram username comes from his high school football uniform.

Skinner said his time as a football player inspired one of his characters, Benny Brohana. In one sketch, Brohana pumps himself up in the gym and makes out with his reflection.

"He feels traumatic to me in a way, but, I don't know, I feel really empowered when I'm him because it feels so good to finally now critique that and have fun with it," he said.

Post by benitoskinner7.

Skinner said social media has created avenues for new voices in comedy, just as it did for him.

"I know that there's a lot of critique of them, and what they could potentially do to someone's mental health or what they've done to our generation or generations coming up," he said. "But, as a creator and as a queer creator, Instagram and Facebook and these platforms have been an amazing vehicle for me to post videos so that I don't have to audition for something and kind of wait to be a character. I can explore different characters and write them myself."

He added: "I'm also always impressed because I think a lot of the people who are coming up on the Internet are women. They're non-binary. They're queer. They're African-American. They're Latino... The doors have opened I feel for a lot of people to enter this space and make their names known."

This year, Skinner performed live in "The Overcompensating Tour," which he described as a "variety show." The performances, which took place in California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, D.C., Florida and Quebec, offered a mix of stand-up, impressions, characters and sketches. He has another live performance scheduled for Nov. 8 at the New York Comedy Festival and hopes to add more dates throughout the fall.

The best part of performing live, Skinner said, has been seeing the faces behind his Instagram comments. One such fan was a young transgender girl, who told Skinner his videos make her "feel more comfortable being herself."

"That was a huge moment for me, because I feel like that's what I want people to feel when they watch my videos or sketches," he said. "It's that I want you to put on a weird wig or a crazy outfit or the neon pink lipstick. I want you to do whatever you want to do to express yourself. So many times we're told not to be extra, you're being too much, you're this that. I would really love everyone to be able to feel like they can let their freak flag fly a little bit."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Instagram star Benito Skinner: Coming out inspired comedy career