IT WAS an awkward moment when the lights came on, applause faded and people in the adjacent rows could put a face to “That Woman” – the one who had been hysterically cackling all night. Me.

Tears were still damp on my cheeks as I left the theatre, struggling to remember when I had last laughed so hard (probably not since watching Michael McIntyre’s flight arrivals sketch), but I genuinely couldn’t control it.

I am probably bang on Iain Stirling’s target audience: old enough to appreciate his ‘my friends are getting boring and having babies’ quips but able to relate to stories of the binge drinking and social media culture.

Many know him as the voice of dating show Love Island, others as a former children’s television presenter.

Despite the latter, his stand-up is not for those easily offended. I saw one couple walk out after the second slip of the C-word.

He opened by making light of the fact that the theatre was half empty – his tour has sold out across the country, with the lone exception of Oxford.

“If the three of you walk out, that’s a significant part of the audience gone,” he shouts at a trio of chatty Oxford Brookes students.

Next to catch his attention in the front row were two friends, who simply said “horses” when asked how they had met – a response he declared “the most Oxford answer I’ve ever heard.”

His support act Steve Bugeja was as self-deprecating, until Stirling appeared for his main set.

Those hoping for an exposé of life on Love Island will be disappointed – there were few references to the reality series that catapulted his career.

Instead his show mainly chronicled the thoughts of a 30-year-old, loath to give up his 20-something lifestyle.

There were some flickers of faltering confidence but several moments had me gasping for breath, from the dynamics of the McDonald’s queue system to a hilariously accurate portrayal of a girls’ night out. He deserves a full theatre if he returns to Oxford.

Rating: 4/5