ham it up

ham it up

To act in an exaggerated way, typically in order to be funny. Your daughter loves to ham it up for the camera—you might have a little actress on your hands!
See also: ham, up

ham up

To exaggerate a performance or act in an overstated or over-the-top manner, often to the level of being irksome or inappropriate. A noun or pronoun can be used between "ham" and "up." This is a serious play, so please don't ham up your part. My toddlers like to ham it up whenever we have company.
See also: ham, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ˌham it ˈup

(informal) (especially of actors) when people ham it up, they deliberately exaggerate their emotions or movements: When we realized we were being filmed, we all started behaving differently, hamming it up for the cameras.
A ham is an informal word for an actor who performs badly, especially by exaggerating emotions.
See also: ham, up
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • ham up
  • drag queen
  • in drag
  • a tale never loses in the telling
  • tale never loses in the telling
  • be (not) the end of the world
  • not be the end of the world
  • stretch it
  • stretch the truth
  • redonkulous