‘The Late Show’ to cartoons: Asher Perlman finds his voice

Asher Perlman '08 wants to make people laugh. And think.

The Lawrence University alumnus does it as a writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert; he does it as part of improv and sketch comedy troupes, skills honed on the stages of Chicago's famed Second City; he does it in standup gigs across New York; and he does it via single-panel cartoons that have become regular fodder in The New Yorker and are now the subject material for his debut book of cartoons, Well, This is Me, released earlier this summer by Simon & Schuster.

"Performer, writer, cartoonist-I try to do it all," Perlman said in a Zoom interview from the Brooklyn neighborhood he's called home for seven years.

In many ways, the liberal arts approach to education that Perlman embraced as an undergraduate at Lawrence mirrors his burgeoning career as an entertainer. A government major at Lawrence, Perlman performed in theater productions for four years, and he embraced lessons taught in philosophy courses, even working as a student tutor in symbolic logic.

Now, he said, he takes a "liberal arts approach to creativity," built on his ability to be a critical thinker.

"One of the strengths of a liberal arts education is you can sort of dabble in a handful of different disciplines," he said. "I took all the acting classes I could at Lawrence. I took a directing class. One thing I really liked about Lawrence is there wasn't this hard line between departments, where you only know people in your own discipline. I liked living between the different fields."

That philosophy pays off in the comedy work he's doing now.

"I do think being well-educated and knowledgeable and following public events makes you a stronger comedian," he said. "That's the strength of a liberal arts education; it recognizes the intersection of everything."

Perlman has been on the writing staff for The Late Show for six years. Colbert gave Perlman's book an on-air shout-out when it was released in June.

"It's full of some of my favorite cartoons," Colbert said on his show, highlighting a particular favorite where a genie says to a dog with a stick, "I mean, I can throw it a third time."

Cartooning became part of Perlman's comedy repertoire in 2020 when the COVID pandemic set in and his standup comedy was put on pause. A lifelong doodler, he committed himself to the art and found a receptive audience at The New Yorker, where his cartoons have gotten consistent play.

Four years later, Perlman joined forces with Simon & Schuster, the same publisher that put out the cartoon books of his childhood-Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, and Fox Trot, among others.

"I'm honored to be part of that family," he said.

The book quickly sold out of its initial order, meaning Perlman's book tour was abbreviated as they awaited a new shipment. He made appearances in New York, Chicago, and his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He expects to resume tour stops in the fall.

While the book features many of the Perlman cartoons that have published in The New Yorker, the majority are panels being seen for the first time. That was by design, Perlman said. He didn't want the book to be a copy of his Instagram account.

"I wanted it to feel like people were getting something they couldn't get somewhere else," he said. "I pushed for that."

A funny journey

When Perlman graduated from Lawrence, he knew he wanted to try his hand in entertainment. Having sampled comedy as part of a student improv group at Lawrence, he opted to immerse himself in Chicago's comedy scene.

Second City became a sort of grad school program for Perlman. He took classes, performed on house teams, joined touring groups, toured on a cruise ship, and finally landed on one of their prized Resident Stages. He was doing upwards of 10 shows a week.

"I feel like the improv world in Chicago was my second college," Perlman said. "You have a group of people you come up with, sort of like your freshman class. You take classes together and you work your way through. It's a ladder you're climbing."

He caught the attention of NBC's Saturday Night Live, which flew him to New York for a screening. While he didn't get the job, he fell in love with the city. He made the move, shortly thereafter, landing a writing job with a Comedy Central show that lasted nine months. That led to an offer to join the writing team at Colbert's The Late Show.

"I like all kinds of writing," Perlman said. "Comedy writing is a big muscle with a lot of different supporting muscles. It feels good to work all those different muscles. Improv and sketch and cartooning, it's all part of the same thing. I love doing it all."

Perlman credits Lawrence faculty in the government, theater, and philosophy departments with honing his critical thinking, writing, and performance skills. In particular, he singles out Steven Wulf, associate professor of government.

"Probably more than anyone, Professor Wulf taught me to be a writer," Perlman said.

Those Lawrence faculty also pushed him to be attuned to the world around him-to push boundaries, be curious, be flexible. All that comes into play on The Late Show and in his ongoing work in cartooning.

"A lot of things in life you don't have control over," Perlman said. "So, it's important to be able to flex and make the best decision in the moment. I think being a good critical thinker who is able to stay calm has a lot to do with that. I think Lawrence set me up to be a thoughtful person who can approach situations clearly and think through them critically and deliberately. That's been a real strength."