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

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

We're at a joke-testing meeting with a company that produces products for social events. Its catalogue includes festive crackers.

The company's founder grins, nearly sheepishly at the joke. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in future crackers.

"You measure the gag by the volume of groans and the intensity of the groans at the table," she says.

The key to a great Christmas cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up gag per se. It is all about the context - in this case, the shared laughter of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and potentially neighbours.

"The goal is for the gag to be a thing that brings the child in harmony with the 80-year-old," she adds.

The Science Behind Shared Laughter

Coming together to experience communal laughter is not only ancient, experts argue, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are laughing with people at the Christmas table you are dropping into what's very likely a really primordial mammal social sound," says a neuroscience expert.

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

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

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it leads to increased levels of endorphin release," she adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly pun with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you care about."

Which Occurs In the Mind?

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

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

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of neural imager which indicates which areas of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood.

Testing entails imaging the brains of healthy participants and then exposing them to a collection of funny words, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we observed a very interesting activation pattern of activation," notes the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for auditory processing and interpreting language, but also brain regions involved in both preparation and starting movement and those linked to sight and recall.

Combine these elements as a whole, and individuals listening to a pun have a sophisticated series of neural reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Power of Laughter

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

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

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

Laughter, according to the expert, can be contagious.

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

"You laugh harder when you know people," she says, "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 reaction to it.

"The laughter is key. The gag is the terrible holiday cracker pun, and it's just a reason to laugh as a group."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to discover the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist established a scientific project for the planet's funniest gag.

Over tens of thousands of jokes later, with scores provided by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what works and what fails.

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

"But they also be poor gags, puns that make us groan," he adds.

The more "awful" the joke, he states the better.

"This is because if no-one finds it funny – it's the gag's shortcoming, not yours.

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that none of us find them humorous.

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