Steve Byrne has appeared on his own hour special on Comedy Central, twice on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,”and now in the newest Vince Vaughn film, “Four Christmases.”

Byrne graduated from Kent State in 1997 with a degree in theater. Straight out of college, he moved to New York and began working at a comedy club. A few months later, he tried stand-up comedy for the first time and hasn’t stopped.

“If I had to sum it up really quickly, it’s just a lot of hard work and a sincere passion for wanting to do stand-up comedy,” Byrne said about how he got to this point in his career.

Most recently, Byrne proved it really is who you know with scoring his role in “Four Christmases.”

Byrne met Vaughn when he filled in for a sick comedian on Vaughn’s “Wild West Comedy Show,” and they became friends soon after. One day, he got a call from Vaughn, asking him if he wanted to be in his next movie.

Although Byrne was only on set a day and a half, he spent a lot of time with Vaughn and co-star Reese Witherspoon. It’s hard to imagine a set with Vaughn being anything but playful, and Byrne confirms that. Byrne said the most fun he had was the improvisation with Vaughn.

“I think I ruined quite a few takes from laughing, which, you know, I guess is expected,” Byrne said of Vaughn’s comical behavior on set.

You can catch Byrne in the opening scene, which sets up the basis of the relationship between Vaughn and Witherspoon’s characters. IMDb.com lists Byrne as being a dancer in the film.

Currently, Byrne is drafting a television show with Ken Jeong and up-and-comer Kevin Shea, which he said will be ready to pitch in the next few weeks. He’s also working on a new one-hour special for Comedy Central and constantly touring.

With two television shows in the works, it seems like people could be seeing a lot more of Byrne in the future, but for now, be sure to see him in “Four Christmases.”

Contact all correspondent Nicole Aikens at [email protected].