Ian Koranek grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia where he attended thirteen years of Catholic school. In 2002, he enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University as a Theater Performance major. He trained in Shakespeare, Chekov, Tennessee Williams, Moliere, Greek tragedy, modern theater, and acting for the camera. He performed in numerous school productions such as "Our Town" and "Zoo Story" and also wrote and staged three original plays. Koranek honed his skills as a stand-up comedian alongside a group of comics known as the 955 club. He graduated in May of 2006 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
The following October, Koranek moved to New York City. He began performing stand-up all over Manhattan in places such as The Village Lantern, The Grisley Pear, and The Playwright Celtic Pub. He has performed numerous times in the show Sunday Night Improv and once had the honor to do so for legendary comedy team Stiller and Meara. He landed the leading role in the independent film, "Troublesome Man", was featured in the promo "Man Oh Man", on the gameshow podcast "Pants on Fire", in the film, "Frankie", in commercials for the Connecticut Shoreline Train, Plymouth Insurance, Stash Invest, Lion's Den, and Snickers/'Krypton', and played Al Capone in a PR stunt for the Comedy Central series, "Drunk History". He co-wrote and starred in the sketch comedy show "The New Normal" with IN Studios in June 2017 and produced the original sketches "The Waiter" and "True Charity", available on YouTube. Koranek also has been a background actor (extra) in two "Saturday Night Live" sketches: as a Christmas elf in their parody of "Serial" and as a clinically depressed Stormtrooper in their "Undercover Boss: Kylo Ren" sketch.
He performed in a dual production of “Richard II” and “Richard III” at the Times Square Arts Center in 2011. He has also been seen on episodes of “Celebrity Ghost Stories”, “Evil, I”, “Stalked”, "Monumental Mysteries", "Mysteries at the Museum", "Tainted Dreams", "A Crime to Remember", "Warakora", "Pandora's Box", and "Deadline Crime". On those shows, he played roles ranging from a 1970s serial killer to an 1870s baseball coach.
Koranek is represented by Take 3 Talent and Jaime Baker Management.
