Cheyenne native to host monthly ‘Comedy That Cares’ series
CHEYENNE — Cheyenne-born comedian Dominic Syracuse has seen the comedy scene in his hometown ebb and flow many times through the years. Now, he wants to add something of his own to the tide of entertainment that the capital city has to offer.
Syracuse is a trained actor and comedian, boasting experience with the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, Groundlings Theatre and School in L.A. and more. But he also has a history as a certified behavioral specialist who’s done social work and helped individuals with disabilities for nearly a decade.
Before becoming a full-time comedian, Syracuse used to work in maximum security prisons around the Los Angeles area, where he mixed his background in psychology with his training in acting and improvisation to teach people anger management coping mechanisms, life skills and overall cognitive behavioral intervention.
He now uses all of his combined experiences to empower people through his business, Cognitive Behavioral Theater.
He also still participates in and even hosts other shows throughout the country and Wyoming with organizations like Second Chance Comedy, which he participated in last November.
Kicking off on Jan. 16, he’ll be gifting Cheyenne with a new monthly series called “Comedy That Cares.”
Once a month until May, Syracuse will tour with a headlining comedian to Cheyenne, Laramie and Casper for a small comedy run.
The series will then take a break in the summer and start back up in September.
Casper won’t be seeing "Comedy That Cares" quite yet though; the first show there will be in February. This is due to the series securing comedian Dude Dad, who’s based in Fort Collins, Colorado, as its first headliner. He’ll begin the series with his 18+ tour called “Parents Night Out.”
Dude Dad, or Taylor Calmus, is an actor, content creator and comedian who creates content primarily centered around being a father, what it’s like living in the West, and DIY projects. To date, he’s made multiple appearances on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and has millions of views and followers across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
The tour will start in Cheyenne at the Cheyenne Civic Center, and head to Laramie the next night to host Calmus at The Gryphon Theatre.
In the future, Syracuse said, the consistent venue for the Cheyenne leg every month will be the Metropolitan Downtown.
However, depending on the popularity of the comedian, who’s scheduled to be different every month, the venue could change back to the Civic Center.
The same thing goes for Laramie; the typical venue will be The Collective, but it will move to the Gryphon Theatre for Dude Dad.
The schedule starting in February, which will remain consistent throughout the series, will start in Casper on the third Thursday of every month at The Rialto Theater, then head to The Met in Cheyenne on the third Friday of every month, and close out at The Collective in Laramie on the third Saturday of every month.
All of the shows will be rated PG-13 and restricted to people ages 16 and older, with the exception of Dude Dad’s set and The Rialto in Casper, which will always be for those 21 and older.
Tickets will be sold for $30 across the board — or two tickets for $25 each.
Season tickets will also become available, which equate to $20 per show, and more details on that can be found through the Cognitive Behavioral Theater page on Facebook.
“I’m going to get comedians from all over the United States, and we’re also going to pick a different nonprofit every time,” said Syracuse. “We’re going to bring in amazing comedians from ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Comedy Central and The World Series of Comedy. ... The acts are also going to match the nonprofits. For example, if we pick a nonprofit for veterans, I’m going to bring in comedians who’ve served in the military.”
One of the big reasons he started this series was to give the capital city something to do in the colder months when there’s less to do, which is why the series won’t be running from June through August.
Another reason was to bring live entertainment back to Cheyenne.
“Right now, too, people are getting the majority of their entertainment from their phone, and that’s kind of taking away from the live entertainment experience and human connection where we can share a laugh with people in person. ... We’ve sort of replaced entertainment with doomscrolling,” Syracuse said. “And I think people have forgotten that it’s still OK to laugh, and it’s still OK to come together and have joy. The whole purpose of this is to spread joy and positivity for a good cause, rather than letting people continue to just sort of bask in anger and negativity.”
How "Comedy That Cares" came about and where it’s headed
Syracuse also said that the event was partially inspired by a monthly comedy show that The Met used to put on during the pandemic, but discontinued in 2022. After it was discontinued, Syracuse started to host bigger shows around the capital city and was eventually sought out by nonprofits like COMEA and the Unaccompanied Students Initiative to host fundraising shows for them.
Just this past year, COMEA, USI, and Cheyenne’s American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association chapter all reached out to Syracuse, asking him to do more nonprofit comedy shows for them.
So instead of having a bunch of separate shows, Syracuse thought he could kill two birds with one stone by reaching back out to The Met about bringing back a monthly comedy series — one that highlights all of the nonprofits that reached out to him.
That’s how "Comedy That Cares" was born.
“One hundred percent of the proceeds go to nonprofits. So, statewide, we’re going to pick about 20 local nonprofits, and the goal is to raise $200,000 for them. ... We’re also going to allow the nonprofits to raise sponsorships, so if they want to treat it like a gala, they’re able to do that, too,” Syracuse said.
“Also, instead of nonprofits feeling like they have to compete with each other for funds, because that can be a huge stressor, I said, ‘You know what? How about instead of having a spirit of competition, let’s have a spirit of collaboration.’”
Although the shows will center around a nonprofit each night, Syracuse said that he still wants the event to be “comedy the whole time,” and the idea is to get the laughs started right away.
“One of the ideas we came up with is, if there’s a business that really wants to be the top sponsor of the night, we’re going to start off the show by roasting their CEO. ... and then, for other sponsors, we want to go and make funny social media promos for them, and we’ll play those before the shows.”
The first show on Jan. 16 will be the only show not highlighting a specific nonprofit, as the funds from that show will go to paying for all of the other comedians the organization is bringing in for the rest of the year. Therefore, the kickoff supports all of the future shows, comedians and nonprofits in the series, all of whom will be announced, along with the exact dates and times, on that Friday.
“I’m just really excited for "Comedy That Cares” because it blends all of my passions and expertise together,” said Syracuse. “The fact that I can bring myself and my stand-up comedian friends to my home state and also help out local nonprofits . . . . It feels like this is the project I’ve been living my entire life to do, and I want to make this a staple in Cheyenne.”
Tickets for the kickoff show will go on sale on the Cheyenne Civic Center website and Dude Dad’s website on Dec. 3.
This story was published on Dec. 2, 2025.