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

This joke is greeted with groans that echo through a warehouse in London.

This describes a joke-testing meeting with a firm that makes supplies for gatherings. Its catalogue features Christmas crackers.

The firm's founder smiles, nearly apologetically 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 groans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

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

"You want the joke to be a thing that unites the child in harmony with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Science Of Shared Amusement

Gathering to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, scientists 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 almost certainly a truly primordial mammal social sound," says a professor.

Communal amusement, she explains, helps forge and strengthen social connections between people.

Scientists have found that a absence of such interactions can significantly damage mental and physical well-being.

"The people you talk to, and share laughter with, it results in increased amounts of endorphin release," the professor continues.

Endorphins are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in reaction to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a truly awful Christmas cracker gag.

"It's not simply laughing at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," she says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly vital work of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you love."

What Happens In the Mind?

But what is truly taking place within the mind when we listen to a joke?

An awful lot happens in reaction to humour, it transpires.

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood.

Testing involves imaging the brains of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a database of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a really fascinating pattern of neural activity," notes the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the brain in charge of auditory processing and understanding language, but also brain regions involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those involved in sight and recall.

Put all of this together, and people listening to a pun have a sophisticated series of neural responses that support the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a funny phrase is paired with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

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

It means people are not just responding to humorous jokes, they are responding to the amusement that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the expert, can be infectious.

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

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

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she says, the positive effect is more probable to be caused not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to discover the ultimate joke?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a scientific project for the world's funniest gag.

Over 40,000 gags later, with ratings lodged by 350,000 participants around the world, he has a clearer idea than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

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

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

The more "terrible" the gag, he states the more effective.

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

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

"It creates a common experience around the table and I believe it's lovely."