One of the perks of the job is that you get to interview famous people and those who you admire.

Steve Bell was a case in point and when I heard he was to give a talk at Scarborough Literature Festival I jumped at the chance to interview him and hear the talk.

I had long admired his irreverent style and the not so subtle way he ridiculed those in power across the political spectrum – when I looked at his recent creations I was not surprised to see that he had drawn Boris Johnson with a bum for a face.

We met at his hotel and he was very generous with his time and it was a nice chat. And then we headed to Scarborough Library where I got this shot before the talk.

It was good to hear his thinking behind a lot of his cartoons and how he referenced some of his illustrious predecessors which he often mimicked as a tribute to their work.

It is strange to think that this interview/review was from a time which was pre-Brexit when David Cameron was the newly elected Prime Minister who, by the way, he depicted as having a condom over his head because his face was so shiny.

STEVE Bell clearly loves his work. Having said that there must be a certain degree of job satisfaction to be gained from ridiculing the political elite on a daily basis.

Famous for his irreverent cartoons in the Guardian the 60-year-old gave an entertaining talk to a packed audience at Scarborough Library on Saturday.

But things could have worked out very different after graduating with a fine arts degree from Leeds University.

He launched himself onto an unsuspecting world after trying to be a teacher for a year. “I was useless as a teacher,” he said.

“You have to be on the ball in front of a class of 30 kids, day in, day out. I prefer working by myself. I’d always done cartoons and I really enjoy it. My art teacher was always really encouraging.”

He was influenced early on in life by what comics such as the Beano and the Beezer and later by the cartoons of Robert Crumb, Trog and Giles.

“I always liked doing strip cartoons. I had to get out of teaching, I was awful, that gave me a kick to try going as a freelance.

“The thing about cartooning is there is no career path. You have to put yourself about. It was quite difficult.”

He eventually got a break at Time Out before starting at the Guardian newspaper in 1981. “I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the Thatcher era but she was a prime target,” he said.

Over the years Steve has developed many well-known caricatures of leading politicians – including John Major as an inept superhero, with his underpants outside his trousers, and George W Bush as a chimp.

He said: “It does take time to work out what their character is and what they are like. Maybe doing it day by day is an advantage. It’s a great feeling – you get runs when you get your teeth into them. Sometimes its like shooting fish in a barrel because they are so stupid.

“Because you do it day by day it’s nice when they go. It was nice when Thatcher left but what followed was equally ludicrous.

“There’s no better feeling than when you do a cartoon that’s offensive, funny and well drawn.”

During his talk he spoke about the development of characters and some well known cartoonists and illustrators throughout history including James Gillray. “Gillray was the man that took the monarchy on,” he said.

The way he works has changed considerably over the past 30 years. Originally he had to send his work by train to London before the arrival of fax machines in the 1990s.

But now he can just scan them into his trusty laptop and send them by email from anywhere in the country.

It was a very informative and entertaining talk in front of an appreciative audience.

• To view his work visit the Steve Bell website and The Guardian.

From the Scarborough Evening News on Monday, April 18, 2011.