Yes, it's a laurel - one of the varieties of English or cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus. Looks like Skip laurel ('Schipkaensis'). You can prune it as hard as you like and you can do it now. These are everywhere in my location and many are sheared into very tidy, straight edged hedges.

This is a definately a Laurel. You can certainly cut it back heavily. Consider hand pruning as this will yield a good result.