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

This quip is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in the capital.

We're at a humor-evaluation meeting with a firm that produces products for gatherings. Its catalogue features festive crackers.

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

"The success is gauged by the joke by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she says.

The key to a good Christmas cracker pun is not the identical as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the shared amusement of the Christmas meal with grandparents, children and potentially neighbours.

"You want the joke to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," she adds.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Amusement

Gathering to enjoy shared laughter is not only ancient, experts argue, it is likely to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are laughing with others at the Christmas table you are dropping into what's very likely a really ancient mammal play vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Shared amusement, she says, aids in make and maintain social connections between individuals.

Researchers have found that a lack of these social exchanges can seriously damage mental and physical health.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it results in increased amounts of endorphin release," she continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to enjoyable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a truly terrible festive cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly vital task of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you care about."

Which Occurs In the Mind?

But what is actually taking place inside the mind when we hear a joke?

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

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

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

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

A gag activates not just the areas of the brain in charge of auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also brain areas associated with both planning and starting movement and those linked to sight and recall.

Combine these elements as a whole, and people hearing a joke have a sophisticated set of neural reactions that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Contagious Power of Chuckles

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

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a grin or a chuckle," the professor explains.

It indicates people are not just reacting to humorous words, they are reacting to the amusement that accompanies them.

Amusement, says the expert, can be contagious.

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

"You laugh more when you are familiar with people," she notes, "and laughter increases further when you like them or care for them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she explains, the positive factor is more likely to be caused not by the gag itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Will we ever find the ultimate gag?

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

In 2001, a professor established a research search for the world's most humorous gag.

More than 40,000 gags later, with ratings lodged by hundreds of thousands of participants globally, he has a better idea than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

The perfect festive cracker pun needs to be brief, he explains.

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

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

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

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

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