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"How much did Santa's sleigh cost? Zero, it was on the house."

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

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a company that produces supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

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

"The success is gauged by the joke by the volume of moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she explains.

The key to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a good gag in itself. It is all about the context - in this instance, the shared laughter of the Christmas meal with elders, kids and potentially friends.

"The goal is for the gag to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

Coming together to experience communal amusement is not only nothing new, experts argue, it is probably to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with others around the Christmas table you are dropping into what's almost certainly a truly primordial mammal play sound," explains a professor.

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

Researchers have discovered that a lack of such interactions can significantly damage mental and physical well-being.

"The people you converse with, and share laughter with, it leads to enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' uptake," the professor continues.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in response to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly terrible Christmas cracker gag.

"It's not simply laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are actually 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 happening inside the brain when we listen to a gag?

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

Using brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which shows which parts of the brain are more active, researchers have been able to map the regions that receive more blood.

The research involves imaging the minds of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a collection of humorous words, paired with either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

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

A joke stimulates not just the areas of the mind in charge of hearing and understanding speech, but also brain regions involved in both preparation and initiating motion and those linked to vision and memory.

Combine all of this together, and people hearing a joke have a sophisticated series of neural responses that underpin the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a funny phrase is combined with chuckles there is a stronger response in the mind than the same word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the brain that you would use to contort your expression into a grin or a chuckle," she says.

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

Amusement, says the professor, can be infectious.

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

"You laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh further when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she explains, the feel-good effect is more probable to be caused not by the joke in itself, but from the reaction to it.

"The laughter is key. The gag is the terrible Christmas cracker joke, and it's just a reason to chuckle as a group."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the ultimate gag?

Probably not, but that has not prevented experts from attempting to.

In 2001, a psychologist set up a research search for the world's funniest joke.

Over tens of thousands of gags later, with scores provided by 350,000 participants around the world, he has a better idea than many as to what works and what does not.

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

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

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

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

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

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