Laughing Buddha Comedy

There really aren't enough good things to say about Laughing Buddha Comedy. I do want to make a counter-statement in regards to an earlier review about LBC "not being friendly to female comics". I think this may have been a single occurrence, as it certainly is in no way true about LBC as a whole. I moved to NYC in 2010 specifically to take their 6-week program, and everyone involved with LBC was nothing but warm and friendly to me. As a female myself, not one time was I made to feel uncomfortable or unwanted, and in fact, I have known many female comedians that have come up through the LBC ranks (not just utilizing the open-mics) and have never, not one time, heard a similar complaint.

As far as the mics go, yes, there are stringent rules, but anyone who has been to the plethora of mics in NYC recognize the value of having rules; many other mics in the city are sheer mayhem. With LBC mics, you get people's undivided attention and they are always responsive (where response is warranted, lol). The biggest thing you'll see at an LBC mic is respect, and that alone is worth any money paid.

In regards to LBC classes: You can take workshops/classes cheaper than LBC, but you walk away with much less as well, and you can pay much more than LBC for "accredited" classes, and still you won't get near the stage time, experience, information or attention as you will from Jeff Lawrence and his instructors. Bottom line, the cost of workshops or classes are NO indication of value, but what you get out of them, is. LBC is worth every penny.

Laughing Buddha Comedy is simply cream of the comedy crop. I owe a huge part of my experience and success that I have found in the past 7 years as a stand-up comedian to LBC. It would have taken me yearrrrs to learn on my own what is taught at LBC, and the contacts I have made via networking with people associated with LBC would never have happened, period, without them.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend Laughing Buddha Comedy, and its owner, Jeff Lawrence.

I was there a few years ago and the place was great.
Most of the comedians were quite funny and I especially enjoyed the last guy to go on (David S.)
He told me that he enjoyed his experience so much that he'd very much like to perform there once again in 2023.
Perhaps someone can get back to me so I can inform him when and where the Open Mics are now being performed.

I took classes online with Jeff in 2021 during pandemic and it was great. Jeff pushed me to be more honest and ballsy. He gave me a couple of tips Im still using. After the classes I went a couple of online open mics he put together.
Love the guy and the classes.

I'm having the time of my life at Laughing Buddha Comedy classes. Jeff Lawrence has put together a great program of classes and a great selection of open mics to practice. It is a fabulous environment to learn stand-up comedy. Joe DeVito and Kevin Dombrowski are great teachers to help you with a set you get to perform in a showcase after your classes are done. I'm looking forward to my next set of classes already.

My talent manager had great things to say about Laughing Buddha and I'm so glad that I chose to attend Jeff Lawrence's 6 week workshop.

What Jeff Lawrence offers as an instructor is unique because quite simply, he cares about each and every one of his students. You can tell that Jeff is connected to the craft of comedy and the art of teaching.

I think that most people fear attending a workshop either because they are new to the realm of comedy or they have had a lot of professional acting training and therefore, they do not want to have someone pontificate and then aimlessly babble about the famous people they have worked with resulting in a twister of blah, blah, blah. That is NOT this workshop.

This workshop is/includes:

1. Useful - by the end of the 6 weeks we all had a great set and if you don't believe me then you should see the recording at Eastville Comedy Club from last Tuesday night because it was a great show and a number of people in the class were making their debut!

2. Street Cred/Experience The pro-comics do show up at the comedy club shows and do teach classes. Comics participating with Laughing Buddha include Jeff Lawrence, Todd Barry, Joe DeVito, Janeane Garafalo, and Jim Gaffigan. At our final show, Todd Barry and Jeff Lawrence headlined and Jim Gaffigan stopped by to perform as well.

3. The Root of the Problem/Solution - Jeff dives deep into who you are and what is important to you. If it is not something that you love or hate then skip it. Jeff works closely with you to help you build your set.

4. Professional - Jeff teaches you how to perform/work as a professional comic. He brings practical advice and years of experience to the class.

5. Opportunities to perform - The best way to learn stand-up comedy is to perform and Laughing Buddha offers a host of open mics at various comedy clubs in the city.

6. Support - Jeff is incredible encouraging and you also have the opportunity to provide feedback to your fellow classmates. I think it's important that each comic have the opportunity to perform during class and give constructive feedback to their peers. It's a supportive group all around!

Finally, I am grateful for the instruction, the attention to detail, and the new friends I made at Laughing Buddha.

I'm happy to answer any questions should you desire additional feedback on Jeff Lawrence's 6 week class. It was great!

Great organization. The founder is very nice and helpful with figuring out your place in the New York comedy scene. The shows are always a good time and I look forward to the performances at Klimat every week.

I love this school.

My instructor was Jeff Lawrence and he is funny as hell, thoughtful in his critiques and really gives you great direction as well as the scoop on the industry and gearing towards being a professional comedian.

What you put into it is what you get out of it.

Before you even have your first day of class, you have an assignment to get you thinking about the profession and what you'd like to get out of it. When you start the first class you jump right into things. They provide the lessons, the constructive critique, the space to work and the rest is up to you. At the time I signed up for the class (Q1 2015) they included two FREE open mics a week with your package. That's three opportunities a week to work your material alone.

You can definitely see the progress of the people who are going to the mics. Their material and their style definitely evolves quicker than the people who aren't. The culmination of the class is the showcase where you get up on stage at a comedy club and show em' what you can do to a live audience. The recording of your set is just the icing on the cake!

I definitely feel like it was worth every bit of my tuition and then some. They don't sugar coat anything and they tell you how the industry is, whether you like it or not.

If you're thinking of attending a class, look no further than Laughing Buddha's comedy school. If you think it isn't worth your time and you aren't going to learn anything worth knowing, I suggest you think again!

I found out about Laughing Buddha during a comedy class from another Comedy School and the members of the class wanted to go to 'mics' together. They settled on Laughing Buddha because, as they said, "THERE WAS A GOOD VIBE THERE'. I have not stopped going to Laughing Buddha since that class two years ago! I can choose to perform on Friday, Saturday or Sunday evenings... always very supportive, organized, fun, fairly priced (food at the places is good when I order food)... and there are free snacks after some mics! I invite guests because they get to see a free show. Call it an open mic or mic = they get a great free show!!! We eat, or have drinks to support the club!!

Jeff Lawrence has a very empowering organization. I have done an Industry Show and got useful feedback, my guests enjoyed themselves, and it was rewarding to perform in that show. The industry guest spoke to me about what her company looks for - for advertisements.

I recommend going to the Laughing Buddha mics and joining the team of people. By that I mean, get yourself on the mailing list for the newsletter!

One last thing I want to say is... Jeff requests we are all a 'TEAM'... and we all contribute!

Not welcoming to female comics! A female comedian friend and I signed up for an open mic night, super excited to try out our stuff in the NYC comedy scene. We walked into a room full of literally only men. This is kind of to be expected and, though disappointing, is reasonable. What is NOT reasonable is how immediately uncomfortable we were made to feel by the host, who commented right away on our appearance in the audience, and began making jokes about police shooting black people.
I understand that there is a fine line in terms of policing people's words in comedy but it was a space in which we felt so uncomfortable and unsafe (after being sexually harrassed by another comic there, who rubbed up against a friend and said he "wanted to cuddle"), that we left shortly after arriving, forfeiting the $20 odd bucks we'd spent to get in. You can be funny, and even edgy, and even make comments about women and people of color without creating a space that excludes and derides them.
No thanks, Laughing Buddha!

I haven't been to a comedy club in years, so when a guy with a sign approached me on the street, asking me if I wanted to see a comedy show, I figured, why not?

There was no cover charge, but there was a one or two drink minimum, I don't remember which, but did get two drinks so it never came up as an issue.

As you enter you're led directly down a set of stairs to a basement, and led to your seats. All of the seats have a small table in front for your drinks, and I expect you can probably order food too, but having just eaten I wasn't hungry.

That night apparently the performance had been going on since 9pm, and would go on until 2am, with a different comic going on stage every 10-15 minutes.

That is the part I absolutely loved... even if the guy or gal on stage wasn't doing that great they didn't stay on for long so you got to hear quite a few different styles, and jokes.

The setting was also quite intimate, with just a small stage, and friendly heckling was part of the show as well. I admit to having been labeled the drunk guy in the back. Lies I tell you! Regardless unlike many comedy shows where there is little to no interaction with the crowd, here there was plenty and it led to greater enjoyment for all.

Having originally intended to spend just a few minutes there I instead stayed all the way to the end, and liked it.

Highly recommend it as something to do if you happen to be in the area.