Travis Bennett Reflects On Odd Future’s ‘Loiter Squad’ Show: “I’m Sure Someone’s Feelings Got Hurt”
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“That’s a hilarious question to ask somebody. ‘What’s your history with alcohol?'” Travis Bennett mocks a question about why he’s partnering with Smirnoff ICE for their Supr-ICE pop up at Coachella. The actor and Odd Future vet — who wrapped the third season of Lil Dicky’s show Dave last year — is headed to the annual festival where he’ll be representing the cult classic party drink.
“I always just try to align myself with brands that I can get behind and feel I’m familiar with,” he says with a sparkle in his eye. “Every team you’re a part of is a team. So treat everybody the same. You need every moving piece to get things done.” And his sentiments on togetherness couldn’t be more true as it was exemplified for years with the OFWGKTA crew musically and on screen with their Adult Swim sketch show Loiter Squad.
“Looking back, it makes me kind of sad in a good way,” he reminisces about the days of Odd Future before social media became social media. “I’m happy about the times that we had but boy oh boy. Every once in a while I’m like, ‘I miss this,’ because we were so present in those moments. Only thing on our phones at the time was Twitter and it was just tweets and pictures. There were not videos, none of that. So, yeah, definitely nostalgic.”
Since then, Bennett’s acting skills have gotten a little more structure as he’s played in films like Netflix’s You People alongside Eddie Murphy and Confess, Fletch with Jon Hemm. But 12 years ago, Bennett’s TV career looked much different as he entertained viewers with the infamous satirical show that would probably be “cancelled” today — or as he put it, “if [OF] were a fifth, we’d all be drunk.”
During the show’s run, OF created a ton of skits that imitated various moments in pop culture and mocked “sensitive” topics including race, religion, sexuality, politics, and more.
One episode is particular shows Tyler, the Creator, L-Boy, Jasper, and Earl Sweatshirt auditioning for a role in the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave. Imagine that today. In another, the crew famously stars in a “Lightskin Awareness” commercial where they mock how lighter skin rappers supposedly act.
“Obviously there’s things that were said and I’m sure someone’s feelings got hurt at some point in time about it, but when you’re young and you’re growing, it’s just a part of life,” Taco reflects on some of the unhinged content they created. “To be in a group of 12 people and for everybody to succeed in their own way – I’m just beyond thankful to be a part of it.”
Odd Future no longer hits the stage together as a collective and Loiter Squad has been off the air since 2014, but the 29-year-old did admit that sometimes he misses the thrill of it all.
“I’m outside every once in a while to go see the boys,” he said. “I do miss it though, and I try not to think about it. It’s like an ex-girlfriend, you’re just like, ‘she’s probably just happy somewhere doing her thing. I hope she’s healthy.'”
As music and sketch shows may be a thing of the past, Bennett’s future in Hollywood hopefully includes a desired role as a super villain or as the late Kobe Bryant.
“Nothing would make me happier in life,” he says. “Kobe meant a lot to us, especially L.A. But to me, he meant more than that. Anytime I was doing any stupid stuff or I was giving up — mamba mentality. He meant more to me than any musician, any actor, any TV show.”
Until then, fans can look forward to seeing Travis Bennett in the forthcoming film Little Death, where he plays a small part. In the meantime, he’ll be hanging out with Smirnoff ICE at Coachella and leaving his footprints in the sand while continuing to write stories that will be unearthed long after we’re gone.
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