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

This joke is greeted with groans that echo through a warehouse in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that produces supplies for social events. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

The company's owner grins, almost sheepishly at the joke. But the joke has been selected and will feature in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of moans and the loudness of the groans around the table," the founder explains.

The secret to a great Christmas cracker pun is not the same as a good gag in itself. It is all about the context - in this case, the communal laughter of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, kids and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the gag to be a thing that unites the child in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Communal Amusement

Gathering to experience communal amusement is not only ancient, experts argue, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with people at the holiday table you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really primordial mammal social vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she says, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between individuals.

Researchers have discovered that a lack of these interactions can seriously damage mental and physical health.

"Those you converse with, and laugh with, it results in enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' uptake," the professor adds.

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

"You're not just laughing at a silly joke with a holiday cracker," the expert states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really vital work of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you care about."

Which Happens In the Mind?

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

An awful lot occurs in response to humour, it transpires.

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the brain are more active, scientists have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood.

Testing involves imaging the minds of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a database of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a really fascinating activation pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A gag activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding speech, but also brain regions involved in both planning and starting motion and those linked to sight and recall.

Combine these elements together, and individuals hearing a pun have a sophisticated set of neural responses that support the amusement we experience.

The Contagious Power of Laughter

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

"This activation occurred in parts of the mind that you would use to move your expression into a grin or a chuckle," she explains.

It means we are not just reacting to humorous jokes, they are responding to the amusement that follows them.

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this imply for the chuckles heard at a Christmas gathering?

"People laugh harder when you know people," she says, "and you laugh further when you like them or care for them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Is it possible to discover the ultimate gag?

Likely not, but that has not stopped researchers from attempting to.

In 2001, a psychologist established a scientific project for the world's most humorous joke.

Over tens of thousands of gags later, with scores lodged by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, he has a better idea than most as to what works and what fails.

The perfect Christmas cracker joke must be short, he explains.

"But they also be poor jokes, puns that make us groan," he continues.

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

"This is because if nobody laughs – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

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

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