We live in a world where everyone’s chasing their next dopamine hit. With social media and smartphones dominating our daily lives, we’ve adopted an “I want it now” mindset for everything – from landing the dream job to finding “the perfect partner.” So many people believe they’re just one viral video away from instant fame and fortune, forgetting that real success has always required hard work, discipline, and time. If there’s one artist I can promise you isn’t taking shortcuts, though, it’s Ian Lara.
Nearly 15 years into his career, the Dominican American standup comedian has built an impressive resume: from his viral Comedy Central set on “Stand-Up Featuring” to his first 30-minute special in 2020 for HBO Latino’s “Entre Nos: LA Meets NY,” five appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and his 2022 debut hour-long HBO special “Romantic Comedy” on HBO Max. Now, after two years on the road, Lara returns with his latest special, “Material Boy,” which was released on October 10 on Pluto TV and will be available on Prime, Tubi, Roku, and YouTube this November. Directed by Aida Rodriguez, the title is a nod to his unwavering dedication to the craft and his relentless pursuit of perfecting material – a commitment on full display in this special, where every joke lands and the performance is brilliantly polished from start to finish.
“In a society that doesn’t want to take time out to build stuff and that prefers things to be handed to them quicker, where stories are being told in one-minute clips, I decided to go with ‘Material Boy’ because I am a guy who still takes my time. I need time to build and to create material,” Lara tells Popsugar. “I value the writing. I value the storytelling aspect of it. I can try to crank out a new special every year. A lot of people do that. But for me, I don’t think that’s conducive to what I like to do.”
Lara is talking about perfecting the balance it takes to turn the world’s chaos into laughter – a dance of timing, rhythm, sharp writing, and skillful performance that transforms storytelling into its rawest, most vulnerable form: standup comedy.
If there’s one thing Lara has learned from nearly two decades of performing night after night at comedy clubs across New York City, around the country, and even abroad, it’s to give himself more grace when it comes to chasing the perfect “work-life balance.” He admits he’s missed countless birthdays and get-togethers, with most of his 20s and early to mid-30s spent onstage rather than out with friends. Sometimes he doesn’t have time to date. And while he makes more of an effort to carve out moments for family – being the family man he is – even that had to sometimes take a backseat while preparing for his new special.
“I think with work-life balance, the definition is different for everyone. What does it mean for me? I just think it means finding that sweet spot between hitting the highest level of productive output without burning and crashing out,” he says. “I think that’s the balance. You want to be able to do the most work – good work – without losing your mental sanity.”
Lara reflects on living in what he calls a “microwave society,” an era of instant gratification where people expect success overnight. At the same time, he points out the contradictions we face – especially in America. Capitalism has always preached hustle and grind as the path to achieving your dreams. Yet we’ve also begun to recognize the need to protect our physical, emotional, and mental health.
Social media, meanwhile, has sold a false narrative: that manifesting alone can land you your goals, a six-pack, flawless skin, and enough money for a private jet in just a year or two. It sounds funny – which is why Lara has plenty of jokes about it in his new special – but the pressure is real. Today, the chase after fame can consume anyone, from aspiring entertainers to your local barista.
“Y’all remember back in the day when if you wanted something, you had to work to get it?” Lara asks in the special. “That’s outdated. You no longer have to do that. They created this new thing, it’s called manifesting, and the best part about it is you don’t actually have to do anything.”
“I’m kind of taking the most surreal approach to making fun and mocking it because that’s how some of the people I speak to sound to me,” he tells me, laughing. “Manifesting and the law of attraction – they’ve become just buzz phrases that don’t really mean anything. The truth of the matter is, if you pursue something with all your passion and give it your all, the universe does contort for you. That’s not manifesting, though. It’s not happening because you said, ‘I’m going to do it.’ It’s because you are doing it.”
Lara believes balance means trusting yourself while putting in the work, making space for self-care, and setting boundaries with your time. But even boundaries, he argues, are something this generation has taken a little too far.
“I saw it with mental health for a while, where mental health exploded, and everyone was like, ‘Oh my god, this is so great. We’re finally addressing past traumas and dealing with them and growing.’ But then people started using mental health as an excuse to not speak to their family because they were ‘setting boundaries,'” he says. “They’d be like, ‘Every time I go over, they make me wash the dishes and that’s against my boundaries, so I can no longer speak to my mom,’ which is like wow. I think we’ve taken it too far.”
These days, Lara says balance comes from sticking to routines that keep him focused and organized enough to carve out time for family, friends, and even the occasional getaway – like flying to Puerto Rico with his primo for Bad Bunny’s residency on his birthday weekend. His schedule is built around late nights: he’s up by 10 a.m. after getting to bed around 3, at the gym by noon, and eating lunch by 1. The rest of his day is packed with writing and reviewing material, calls with his managers, booking travel, auditioning for film roles, recording his weekly podcast, “Adulthood,” and squeezing in press interviews. By night, he’s back onstage: Monday through Wednesday bouncing between New York clubs like The Stand, Comedy Cellar, Gotham Comedy Club, and New York Comedy Club for 15-minute sets, and Thursday through Sunday on the road performing his full hour.
“I’m trying to be more intentional about finding balance. More intentional about taking time off to live life,” he says. “I don’t want to waste my youth on things that in the future I might look back and be like, I wish I had done those things but I didn’t because I was too busy working. So I say find joy in life with friends and family and be confident that the work is still being done – because you do still need to do the work.”
In a world chasing quick wins, where likes, shares, and views often overshadow real craft, Lara reminds us that true success comes from discipline, focus, and the willingness to give something your all. He’s mastered what so many folks are still trying to figure out – how to give everything to the dream without losing yourself in the process. Lara is proof that mastering something doesn’t have to mean burning out. It means learning when to push and when to rest.
Johanna Ferreira is the content director for PS Juntos. With more than 10 years of experience, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central part of Latine culture. Previously, she spent close to three years as the deputy editor at HipLatina, and she has freelanced for numerous outlets including Refinery29, Oprah magazine, Allure, InStyle, and Well+Good. She has also moderated and spoken on numerous panels on Latine identity.
