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"What was the price did Father Christmas's sled cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This quip is greeted with moans that resonate through a storage facility in London.

This describes a joke-testing meeting with a company that produces products for social events. Its repertoire features festive crackers.

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

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she says.

The key to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the identical as a good joke per se. It is all about the context - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with grandparents, children and possibly neighbours.

"You want the gag to be a thing that brings the eight-year-old in harmony with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Shared Amusement

Coming together to enjoy shared amusement is not only nothing new, scientists argue, it is likely to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are laughing with others around the holiday dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really primordial mammalian play vocalisation," says a professor.

Shared amusement, she says, aids in make and maintain social bonds between individuals.

Researchers have found that a absence of such social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' release," the professor adds.

Endorphins are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in response to enjoyable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly awful festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you love."

Which Happens In the Brain?

But what is truly taking place within the brain when we listen to a gag?

An awful lot occurs in response to comedy, it turns out.

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which indicates which parts of the brain are working harder, scientists have been able to map the regions that get more blood flow.

Testing involves scanning the minds of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a database of humorous words, paired with either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we observed a very interesting pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the brain responsible for auditory processing and interpreting language, but also neural regions associated with both planning and starting motion and those involved in vision and memory.

Put these elements as a whole, and people hearing a pun have a sophisticated set of brain reactions that support the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a funny phrase is paired with laughter there is a greater response in the brain than the same word when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in parts of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a smile or a laugh," the professor says.

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

Amusement, says the expert, can be infectious.

So what does this imply for the laughter heard at a holiday table?

"You laugh harder when you know people," she notes, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever find the perfect joke?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a research search for the world's funniest gag.

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

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

"But they also need to be bad jokes, jokes that make us groan," he continues.

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

"This is because if no-one finds it funny – it's the joke's fault, not your own.

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

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