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"What was the price did Father Christmas's sled cost? Zero, it was on the house."

This joke is met by groans that resonate through a storage facility in the capital.

This describes a joke-testing meeting with a company that produces products for social events. Its catalogue includes Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, nearly apologetically at the joke. But the joke has made the cut and will appear in upcoming crackers.

"You measure the gag by the number of groans and the intensity of the groans around the table," the founder says.

The key to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the shared amusement of the Christmas meal with grandparents, kids and potentially friends.

"The goal is for the gag to be something that unites the eight-year-old in harmony with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Science Of Shared Amusement

Coming together to enjoy shared laughter is not only nothing new, scientists say, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"So when you are chuckling with others at the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's almost certainly a really ancient mammal social vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared amusement, she says, helps make and maintain social connections between individuals.

Scientists have found that a lack of such social exchanges can seriously damage mental and physical well-being.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced amounts of endorphin uptake," she continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to enjoyable experiences, such as chuckling with loved ones over a particularly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are actually doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

What Occurs Inside the Mind?

But what is truly happening inside the mind when we hear a joke?

An awful lot occurs in reaction to humour, it turns out.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a kind of neural imager which indicates which areas of the brain are more active, researchers have been able to map the areas that receive more blood flow.

The research involves imaging the brains of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a database of funny words, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a really interesting pattern of neural activity," notes the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the brain responsible for auditory processing and understanding language, but also neural areas associated with both planning and starting motion and those linked to sight and memory.

Put these elements together, and people listening to a joke have a complex set of brain responses that underpin the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Researchers discovered that when a humorous word is combined with chuckles there is a greater response in the mind than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.

"This was in parts of the mind that you would use to contort your expression into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

It indicates people are not just reacting to funny jokes, they are responding to the laughter that accompanies them.

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this imply for the laughter heard around a Christmas table?

"You laugh more when you know others," she notes, "and laughter increases more when you are fond of them or care for them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the feel-good effect is more likely to be triggered not by the gag in itself, but from the response to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the terrible holiday cracker joke, and it's just a reason to laugh as a group."

The Search for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the ultimate gag?

Probably not, but that has not stopped researchers from trying to.

Years ago, a professor established a research search for the world's most humorous gag.

More than tens of thousands of jokes submitted, with ratings lodged by 350,000 people globally, he has a clearer understanding than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The perfect festive cracker joke needs to be short, he says.

"But they also need to be poor gags, jokes that cause us to moan," he continues.

The more "awful" the gag, he says the better.

"The reason is that if no-one finds it funny – it's the joke's shortcoming, not yours.

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker puns is that not one person find them funny.

"It creates a common experience at the table and I believe it's lovely."