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

This quip is met by moans that resonate through a storage facility in the capital.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that makes products for social events. Its catalogue includes festive crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, nearly apologetically at the gag. But the joke has been selected and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of groans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

The key to a great Christmas cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up gag per se. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal amusement of the Christmas dinner table with elders, kids and potentially friends.

"The goal is for the joke to be something that brings the child in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Shared Amusement

Gathering to experience shared amusement is not only nothing new, experts say, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with people at the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a truly primordial mammal social vocalisation," explains a professor.

Communal amusement, she explains, aids in make and maintain social connections between people.

Scientists have discovered that a absence of such social exchanges can significantly damage mental and physical well-being.

"Those you converse with, and laugh with, it leads to increased levels of endorphin release," the professor adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with friends over a particularly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are actually doing a lot of the really vital task of building, preserving the social bonds you have with the people you love."

Which Happens Inside the Mind?

But what is actually taking place within the mind when we hear a gag?

A tremendous amount happens in reaction to humour, it turns out.

Using brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to map the regions that receive more blood.

The research entails scanning the brains of healthy participants and then exposing them to a database of humorous words, paired with either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we got a really fascinating activation pattern of neural activity," notes the professor.

A joke activates not just the areas of the brain in charge of auditory processing and understanding speech, but also brain areas involved in both planning and starting motion and those involved in sight and recall.

Combine all of this as a whole, and individuals listening to a pun have a complex series of brain reactions that support the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a funny phrase is combined with laughter there is a greater reaction in the brain than the identical word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would use to move your face into a grin or a laugh," she explains.

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

Amusement, says the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles found at a holiday gathering?

"You laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh further when you like them or care for them."

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

"The laughter is key. The joke is the dreadful Christmas cracker pun, and it's just a reason to laugh as a group."

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever discover the ultimate gag?

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

Years ago, a psychologist set up a scientific project for the planet's funniest joke.

More than 40,000 gags later, with ratings lodged by hundreds of thousands of participants globally, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what succeeds and what fails.

The perfect festive cracker joke must be brief, he says.

"But they also need to be bad jokes, jokes that cause us to groan," he adds.

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

"The reason is that if no-one laughs – it's the gag's shortcoming, not your own.

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

"That's a common moment around the gathering and I think it's lovely."