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

This quip is met by groans that echo through a storage facility in the capital.

This describes a joke-testing meeting with a company that produces supplies for social events. Its catalogue features festive crackers.

The company's founder grins, almost sheepishly at the gag. But the joke has been selected and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the volume of moans and the loudness of the groans around the table," the founder says.

The secret to a great Christmas cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the communal amusement of the Christmas meal with elders, kids and possibly neighbours.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that unites the child in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Laughter

Gathering to enjoy shared amusement is not only nothing new, experts argue, it is likely to be pre-human.

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

Shared laughter, she explains, helps forge and strengthen social bonds between people.

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

"The people you converse with, and share laughter with, it leads to increased amounts of 'happy chemical' uptake," she continues.

Endorphins are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in response to enjoyable experiences, such as chuckling with loved ones over a particularly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really vital work of building, preserving the connections you have with those you love."

Which Occurs In the Mind?

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

A tremendous amount occurs in reaction to humour, it transpires.

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

The research involves scanning the minds of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a collection of funny phrases, paired with either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

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

A gag activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for hearing and interpreting language, but also neural areas associated with both preparation and initiating motion and those linked to vision and memory.

Combine these elements together, and individuals listening to a joke have a sophisticated set of neural responses that underpin the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Scientists found that when a humorous word is combined with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a smile or a laugh," she says.

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

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh more when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh more when you like them or care for them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the feel-good factor is more likely to be triggered not by the gag itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to find the perfect gag?

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

Years ago, a professor established a research search for the world's funniest joke.

More than 40,000 gags later, with scores lodged by 350,000 people around the world, he has a better idea than most as to what works and what does not.

The perfect Christmas cracker pun must be short, he explains.

"But they also be bad gags, jokes that make us moan," he continues.

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

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

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker jokes is that not one person considers them humorous.

"It creates a common experience at the table and I believe it's wonderful."