452. Asher Perlman, Celebrity Dog Sighting, & KAL in Baltimore!
Plus! Ed Sorel, Westminster Dog Show Sketchbook & Morris (video) gets comfortable for the big day ahead...
Hey again, friend.
Welcome to Issue #452 of New York Cartoons. I’m back in New York City traffic, fresh back from the Labor1 Day long weekend in Baltimore, where I got to grab lunch with my old pal and prolific editorial cartoonist, Kevin “KAL” Kallagher.
Kal has just started his own Substack called
after the Baltimore Sun unceremoniously gave him the boot after 30+ years of brilliant work at that paper. He’s yet another cartoonist who has been turfed out of his longtime position from a paper owned by someone who doesn’t like him holding power to account— so weird how that only happens when one particular President is in power… 🤔 (See: Rob Rogers, Ann Telnaes etc.)
Anyway, KAL will be my guest on next week’s edition of Draw Me Anything — Be sure to lock in Noon on Tuesday, September 9th, for our live chat and draw. We have a LOT to discuss. Speaking of which…
Swig some coffee and set your clocks for this Thursday at 7:30 for my chat with fellow New Yorker Cartoonist and good pal, Asher Perlman!
Asher is the kind of artist who makes me wonder if I should have learned how to drive a bus. You know that feeling when you see someone's work and think, "Oh, so that's what a cartoon is supposed to look like"? That's him. His gags land with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker.
He's got a new book out today—a follow-up to his first cartoon collection—which is one of the most dense page-for-laugh cartoon books I’ve ever read.
Asher joined Scott and me in Philly recently for a panel on writing humour in books. He was obviously the most qualified one on the panel, with not only multiple publications under his belt as a cartoonist, but as one of the writers for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
We'll be talking about his process, his path to the New Yorker, and probably how the rest of us are doing everything wrong. It's the kind of conversation that'll either inspire you to pick up a pen or throw it across the room in despair. Tune in Thursday!
In the meantime, grab Asher’s hilarious new book here.
From the publisher:
A cartoon book that will change your life. Ideally, for the better.
Hi, It’s Me Again is the second collection from New Yorker cartoonist and The Late Show writer
Perlman. It comes just one year after his national bestselling debut, Well, This Is Me, and it raises important questions like, “Was this too quick to come out with another book?” and “No, seriously, will people buy this one?”Stephen Colbert calls Asher “very funny" and "keenly attuned to the inherent strangeness of existence.” Ben Stiller says Asher’s cartoons are “the kind of funny that makes you question what it is to be a person.” And Mahatma Gandhi says, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” That one isn’t as relevant here, but it’s still nice to keep in mind.
Anxiety, OCD, the human condition, death—these are just a few of the lighthearted themes explored in this book. A well-proportioned blend of single-panel cartoons and longer narrative pieces, Hi, It’s Me Again has it all, from a vampire stress-drinking blood, to a piñata pressuring her son into being beaten to death by children. And there are some less violent cartoons as well.
One thing is certain: Hi, It’s Me Again is the best compilation of Asher’s cartoons since his last cartoon compilation, and it will certainly remain the best at least until his next.
Last week, I posted about my meeting with the great Ed Sorel and how his advice changed my career. Take a look below:
'How do you decide who you're going to be when you get up in the morning?'
The question landed like a perfectly timed comedic slap.
Be sure to leave a comment below.
If you want to support my work, please take out a premium subscription (just $1 per week).
The Sketchbook I’m sharing with you this week is a selection of the sketches I did of people’s dogs as gifts this past week. If you have a friend with a dog, send me a photo and I’ll draw them into the book for you.
Among the good boys and girls I got to meet this past week (Hi, Dexter!) I had the ridiculous pleasure of meeting this stunning little pooch at the local florist— Archie! Archie is the goodest of boys, and possibly the friendliest dog in the world. I drew him a scribble in the new book as a gift for his owners.
By the way, if you’ve already ordered a book and still want to have a sketch of your pooch on the inside cover, you can order a signed bookplate on adhesive paper to stick in your copy. Just click here and send me some photos of your pup!
If you’re new here, or you haven’t had a moment to wander back through the archives of profound genius I’ve shared up to this point, take a peek at the following scribblings:
Getting comfortable for a full day of doing literally nothing…
*Yes, it’s spelt Labor, not Labour, to my fellow Aussie/British pedants
Dear Jason,
Great piece as always!
Beautiful dog drawings!
Everyone who's not Jason but who IS reading this, check out Jason's art and get his book and experience his everything experienceable!
Thanks for sharing!
Love
Myq
I’m so looking forward to listening to these interviews. I’m also wondering when do you sleep?
How can you interview all these amazing people, edit the interviews, write your newsletter, draw your cartoons, do stand-up comedy, market your books, and (most importantly) walk Morris?
Do you have an AI clone, and how did you engineer it so it doesn’t produce slop?