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

This joke is met by moans that echo through a storage facility in London.

This describes a joke-testing session with a firm that produces supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire features festive crackers.

The company's owner smiles, nearly apologetically 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," she says.

The secret to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is all about the setting - in this case, the communal amusement of the Christmas meal with elders, kids and potentially neighbours.

"You want the joke to be something that brings the child together with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

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

"So when you are chuckling with people at the Christmas table you are dropping into what's very likely a truly primordial mammal play vocalisation," says a professor.

Communal amusement, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Researchers have found that a lack of these interactions can significantly damage mental and physical health.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced levels of endorphin uptake," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to enjoyable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly terrible Christmas cracker joke.

"It's not simply laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly vital task of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you care about."

What Occurs Inside the Brain?

But what is actually happening inside the brain when we hear a gag?

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the brain are working harder, scientists have been able to chart the regions that get more blood.

Testing involves imaging the minds of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a collection of humorous words, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a very fascinating pattern of neural activity," notes the neuroscientist.

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the brain responsible for auditory processing and interpreting language, but also neural regions involved in both planning and starting motion and those involved in sight and recall.

Combine these elements as a whole, and people hearing a pun have a complex series of brain reactions that support the laughter we hear.

The Contagious Power of Laughter

Researchers found that when a humorous word is combined with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the mind than the identical phrase when followed by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would employ to move your face into a grin or a laugh," the professor explains.

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

Amusement, says the professor, can be contagious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles found around a holiday table?

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

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she explains, the positive effect is more likely to be triggered not by the joke in itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever discover the perfect joke?

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

In 2001, a professor established a scientific project for the planet's most humorous joke.

More than tens of thousands of jokes submitted, with scores lodged by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a clearer idea than many as to what works and what fails.

The perfect festive cracker joke needs to be short, he says.

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

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

"The reason is that if nobody laughs – it's the gag's shortcoming, not yours.

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

"That's a shared moment around the gathering and I think it's wonderful."