Our expert instructors have appeared on Comedy Central, VH1, Last Comic Standing, FOX, CNN, MTV, NBC, and more. Their work has been featured on the front page of The Wall StREET Journal as well as the NY Times. They have written for TV shows, films, and more. They are not just caring instructors, but empowering professionals ready to guide you on your stand up comedy journey.
FOUNDER
Jeff Lawrence is a stand up comedian, singer/songwriter, amateur chef, and Founder and Director of Laughing Buddha Comedy, NYC’s premier new talent comedy collective. He’s also very busy.
Since the pandemic he’s been cooking up a storm and recently appeared as a contestant on season 14 of MasterChef: Generations on FOX TV.
A veteran of the NYC comedy scene, Jeff has performed in NY Laughs’ Laughter in the Park most recently at Lincoln Center. He’s also been featured at the Mayo Performing Arts Center and has appeared in various festivals including the NY Comedy Festival.
As a performer and actor, Jeff has appeared on MTV Europe and The Grammy Awards, appearing with Bob Dylan as a member of his entourage. He played Ernest Hemingway at the Wings Theater for a one-month run in NYC.
Over the years Jeff has booked and coordinated talent for many of NYC’s top comedy clubs as well as Catch a Rising Star, America’s Got Talent, as well as an audition showcase for the Late Show with David Letterman.
As a singer and songwriter Jeff (Jefferson Lawrence) has just released his latest single on Spotify, “Curve Ball”, and his highly anticipated record "Death of a Comedian” is due out this year.
As an instructor, Jeff has been featured on the front pages of the Wall St. Journal and the Tampa Bay Times. Jeff likes to draw out the unique stories, struggles, and challenges that we all face in daily life and punch the #$%#$% out of it!
kEVIN DOMBROWSKI
Kevin Dombrowski is a standup comedian that constantly finds himself in the wrong place at the right time for comedy.
A regular around the New York comedy circuit, Kevin has been seen multiple times on The Artie Lange Show on DirecTV, Comedy Time TV, and The Wendy Williams Show.
Kevin has been cast in a series of GEICO SportsNite Commercials, entitled ‘The House Of Fans’ as the ‘Yankee Fan’, circulating on SNY and other networks.
A regular on the Artie Quitter Podcast (Artie Lange’s Uncensored Podcast), Kevin has also been heard on Laughin’ and Livin’ with Carlos Mencia and Friends (Carlos Mencia’s Podcast), The Joe and Scott in the Morning Radio Show, as well as numerous other podcasts and radio programs around the country.
Kevin has been featured in several comedy festivals and competitions, including numerous times in the annual March Comedy Madness standup competition at the legendary Carolines On Broadway.
Kevin has performed with such acts as Gilbert Gottfried, Artie Lange, and Colin Quinn.
When not performing at top comedy clubs, casinos, and colleges around the country, you can catch Kevin opening up regularly for Carlos Mencia on the road.
luke thayer
Luke Thayer is just a midwest boy dropped into the big city. He is silly, yet biting with unorthodox observations of the world, including childhood, parenthood, and the neighborhood.
Luke is a member of the prestigious Friar's Club, and tours comedy clubs, colleges, and theaters worldwide. He has appeared on “Gotham Comedy Live VR”, FOX, TruTV, and The Food Network, to name a few.
Luke is regularly heard on SiriusXM Radio, and has been their “Comedian of the Month”. You can watch his Dry Bar Comedy Special, listen to his album “Hopes + Dreams”, and keep an eye out for his new special debuting soon on Amazon.
JOHN REYNOLDS
We are excited to have Emmy award winning writer John Reynolds join our staff at LBC. John was a WGA Award nominated staff writer on Comedy Central’s The President Show and wrote and performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson for Six years, as well as Colbert.
He’s written for the MTV Awards where he wrote sketches for Conan, Adam Sandler, and Cameron Diaz among others. John is also an original member of the UCB Theater’s weekend team, “Reuben Williams,” and still performs at the UCBT in LA and NY.
On the “Late Late Show,” Reynolds’ monologue jokes often made the weekly “best of late night” lists. In addition, he wrote and produced many sketches for the show, creating new characters for Craig as well as writing material for the likes of Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Lennon, Jim Parsons, Jeffrey Tambor, Henry Winkler, Mary Steenburgen, Dave Foley, and author, Salman Rushdie.
John has developed pilots and various other projects over the past few years with CBS, NBC, Fox, Gary Sanchez, Conaco, History Channel and the Disney Channel, and is very excited to work with our network.
Here’s a link to an animated short he wrote, starring his four-year-old son called, “Late Night Baby”: www.funnyordie.com/videos/6bf276ca80/late-night-baby-with-aubrey-plaza
calvin cat0
Named one of Time Out New York’s LGBTQ Comics of Color to Watch Out For, Calvin S. Cato has dazzled audiences around the world. His on-air and radio appearances include Oxygen, Netflix, Sirius XM, RISK!, WIRED Magazine, and an unaired pilot for Vice Media called Emergency Black Meeting. His comedy has been featured in numerous festivals and events including San Francisco Sketchfest, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gotham Storytelling Festival, Brooklyn Pride, and FlameCon. In early 2021, Calvin was published in Kweendom, an anthology of essays by queer comedians and entertainers. In 2022, Calvin concluded a 3-month run hosting a daily talk show on RushTix.com.
Jana bernard
Jana is a SAG-AFTRA actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. She’s appeared on Netflix's "Girls5Eva", on "Poker Face" on Peacock as “Young Irene,” singing in the Paramount Feature Film “Under the Boardwalk”, and Netflix's "The Half of It". She's been featured on Saturday Night Live for 7 seasons and currently works at The Second City in NYC.
Daryn stephanie passarello
Daryn Stephanie Passarello is an accomplished multi-award winning trans content creator, comedian, and on air personality with 20+ years of experience in entertainment. Passarello has appeared in numerous TV shows and films such as “Who Wants to Be a Super Hero?” On Disney, and “Food Fighters”on NBCU to name a few.
Passarello worked directly with Stan Lee (Co-Creator of Marvel, Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Avengers, X-Men, etc) at his company POW! Entertainment, where Passarello served as the Director of New Media, cultivating and establishing Stan Lee's online presence (Stan Lee's Website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and MySpace). While the Director of New Media, Passarello assisted on and helped create original content for multiple Marvel Studios films, projects and Stan Lee's premium Youtube Channel "The Real Stan Lee".
Passarello consulted on content, marketing. and various other forms of media for Disney, Marvel Studios, various celebrities, global brands, and the World Champion San Francisco Giants. Currently, Passarello opened for Gina Brillon’s 5th comedy special and is the booker and assistant director of Laughing Buddha Comedy. Passarello shares her journey and experiences as a trans woman in her new inclusive project “The Daydreamers Society”.