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

This one-liner is met by moans that echo through a warehouse in the capital.

This describes a humor-evaluation meeting with a firm that makes products for social events. Its repertoire features festive crackers.

The firm's owner grins, nearly apologetically at the gag. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"You measure the joke by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans around the table," she says.

The secret to a good holiday cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, children and potentially friends.

"The goal is for the gag to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the grandparent," she states.

The Science Behind Shared Laughter

Gathering to enjoy communal amusement is not only nothing new, scientists say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are laughing with people around the holiday table you are dropping into what's very likely a really primordial mammal play sound," explains a professor.

Shared amusement, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between people.

Researchers have found that a absence of such social exchanges can seriously harm mental and physical well-being.

"The people you converse with, and laugh with, it leads to enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' release," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a particularly awful festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really important task of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you care about."

What Occurs In the Mind?

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

A tremendous amount occurs in reaction to comedy, it turns out.

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, scientists have been able to map the areas that receive more blood flow.

The research involves imaging the minds of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a collection of funny phrases, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we got a very fascinating activation pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind in charge of hearing and interpreting language, but also brain areas involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those linked to vision and recall.

Combine these elements together, and people hearing a joke have a complex set of neural reactions that support the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a humorous phrase is combined with laughter there is a stronger response in the brain than the identical word when followed by a neutral sound.

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

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

Amusement, according to the expert, can be contagious.

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

"People laugh more when you know others," she notes, "and you laugh more when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the positive effect is more probable to be triggered not by the joke itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the ultimate gag?

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

In 2001, a professor set up a scientific project for the world's funniest joke.

More than tens of thousands of jokes later, with scores provided by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a clearer idea than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal festive cracker joke must be short, he says.

"They must also need to be bad gags, jokes that cause us to groan," he continues.

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

"This is because if nobody laughs – it's the joke's shortcoming, not your own.

"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us considers them humorous.

"That's a common moment at the table and I think it's lovely."