Judges, it turns out, even wear velvet face masks.

Or so it appeared, when I saw the Resident Judge at Swindon Crown Court (‘boo, hiss’ shout Oxford readers) glide across the stained concourse carpet, plush covering across his mouth, bellowing ‘M A S K’ at a bare-bonced barrister.

The lawyer scuttled away, it’s the only word for it, having mumbled an apology in a voice that had less backbone than a jellied eel.

It was the dead of lockdown. The courthouse was barren and I was the only witness to this fantastic piece of theatre that left me rolling on the floor.

The pandemic affected everyone. It touched all our lives. It was by twists and turns lonely and mind-numbingly tedious, with Friday nights on the dancefloor replaced with endless online quizzes or snatched passing conversations while out walking.

But it could also be fantastically funny, leaving me giggling in court.

And at the New Theatre on Wednesday, Mancunian comic Jason Manford shone a spotlight on this lighter side of lockdown.

He had his audience in stitches over tales of eagerly returning his children (he now has six from two relationships) at the school gates after the tedium of online schooling, about eking out some ‘me-time’ by volunteering to drive vulnerable OAPs around, and chronicling petty arguments with his wife over the shape of a duvet.

It was reflective comedy at its best; a series of sharp anecdotes, told by a seasoned comic, his buttock perched on a barstool, with which anyone who was in a relationship or had to live with others during the long, drawn-out lockdowns can empathise.

In the row in front of us at the packed New Theatre, a middle-aged couple creased their eyes in recognition at 41-year-old Manford’s stories of domestic harmony chiming out of tune. Beside them, what must have been their grown-up daughter and her boyfriend creased at the same gags.

It might not be for everyone, but it’s great multi-generational comedy tempered on the club circuit.

Manford, known for his stints on TV quiz shows and stand-up specials, tells the kind of yarns that won’t offend your mother too much – with a rich enough seam of crassness to delight your younger brother.

Warm-up act Prince Abdi was a delight too. The Brixton funny man played on Oxford’s reputation for poshness, claiming to have seen a stranger park a woman’s car for her on the high street before handing back the keys. “You wouldn’t get that in Brixton,” he added.

Like Me, Manford’s 260 date UK tour, continues until November 26 before it resumes with further dates in Europe next year. For tickets, visit: www.jasonmanford.com.