Ian Lara grew up in the streets of Queens, New York. Born and raised in the United States, he lived the American dream his parents fought since the moment they arrived here from the Dominican Republic.
Comedy was his chosen career right after he graduated college. He just didn’t feel like working as a lawyer, so he took the risk of going for a “non-conventional” career.
Being a comedian is not an easy job. Ian has been in the game for almost a decade now but has only worked full time for about four. In the first years, he balanced regular part-time jobs with his stand-up comedy performances every night.
As an Afro-Latino in the United States, you can imagine he has a vast source of inspiration for his routines. Comedy is mostly based on real-life experiences, and the more the public can identify with your jokes, the more success you will have.
Ian has a charming way to tell his jokes, even when he’s joking about serious things like racism or stereotypes, he gives it a twist in which you end up laughing and understanding there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
One of his usual jokes is when people speak Spanish near him, saying mean things thinking he doesn’t understand, and how he makes fun of them once he makes clear that he’s also Latino and that he can understand Spanish.
His life experiences are also part of his show. Coming from a traditional Latino family, he jokes about the differences between his parents’ mentality and his own thoughts and struggles in modern days.
His biggest opportunity came when Comedy Central reached out to him after a call out they made for young comedians to perform for them. They gave him total control over what he wanted to perform. He ended up talking about how people don’t believe he’s Hispanic because he looks African American.
He also made an appearance on this season of “NBC’s Bring the Funny” and made his late-night debut on the tonight show with Jimmy Fallon. His performance became viral, and he received an amazing response from the Dominican and overall Latino community. He says that’s probably because Latinos come in all shapes and races, and many of them relate to those particular experiences.
He’s fully committed to his comedy job these days. You can currently watch his performances on his short special streaming on HBO MAX titled “LA Meets NY”. He is also very active on his Instagram account @IanLaraLive where he shares small bits of his routines.
