He attended San Diego State University and then transferred to University of New Hampshire; he chose the Theater & Arts and Journalism there. He worked as a busboy to subsidize his studies at the New York Friars Club, where he was influenced by the comic legends Red Skelton, Milton Berle, Henny Youngman and Lucille Ball. After the completion of his studies, he traveled through Europe and then he settled in New York to start his career. In 1987, he returned to Los Angeles and improved his comedic abilities with The Groundlings and L.A. Connection.

He has directed and produced the feature film Adventures of a Teenage Dragon Slayer starring Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and Wendie Malick (Racing Stripes). The film was released in theaters Spring 2011 and went on to stay on the family charts for 28 consecutive weeks. Lauer’s recent project, Gridiron Heroes, won Best Feature Documentary at LA Film and Script Festival and Best Direction at NY International. The film follows fallen High School footballers and features actor Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights), football legends Mike Ditka, Kurt Warner, Deacon Jones, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Commentator Al Michaels. He is also involved in a sister-project executive produced by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Battleship) titled Head’s Up Tackling.