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"How much did Father Christmas's sleigh cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This quip is met by moans that echo through a warehouse in the capital.

We're at a joke-testing meeting with a company that makes products for social events. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

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

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

The key to a good holiday cracker pun is not the identical as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with grandparents, kids and possibly friends.

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

The Science Of Communal Amusement

Coming together to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, scientists say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people around the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a really primordial mammalian social vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Shared laughter, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between people.

Scientists have discovered that a lack of such social exchanges can seriously damage both psychological and bodily well-being.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it leads to increased levels of endorphin release," the professor continues.

Endorphins are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to enjoyable activities, such as laughing with friends over a truly terrible Christmas cracker gag.

"It's not simply chuckling at a foolish joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert says. "You are actually doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you love."

What Occurs Inside the Mind?

But what is truly happening within the brain when we listen to a joke?

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

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which shows which areas of the brain are working harder, researchers have been able to chart the regions that get more blood flow.

Testing involves imaging the brains of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a database of humorous phrases, paired with either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we observed a really fascinating pattern of neural activity," notes the professor.

A joke stimulates not just the parts of the mind responsible for hearing and interpreting speech, but also brain regions associated with both preparation and initiating motion and those linked to vision and memory.

Combine all of this as a whole, and individuals hearing a joke have a sophisticated series of brain reactions that underpin the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

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

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

It indicates we are not just reacting to funny words, they are reacting to the laughter that follows them.

Amusement, says the professor, can be contagious.

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

"You laugh harder when you know people," she notes, "and laughter increases further when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she says, the feel-good factor is more probable to be caused not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the dreadful holiday cracker joke, and it's just a pretext to chuckle together."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the ultimate gag?

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

Years ago, a professor established a research search for the planet's most humorous joke.

Over tens of thousands of jokes submitted, with scores provided by 350,000 people globally, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what works and what does not.

The ideal festive cracker pun needs to be brief, he explains.

"They must also need to be bad gags, puns that make us groan," he adds.

The more "terrible" the joke, he says the more effective.

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

"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker jokes is that not one person considers them humorous.

"That's a common experience at the gathering and I believe it's wonderful."