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

This quip is met by moans that echo through a warehouse in London.

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

The company's founder grins, nearly sheepishly 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 moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she explains.

The secret to a great Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up gag in itself. It is all about the context - in this instance, the communal laughter of the holiday dinner table with elders, children and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that unites the child together with the grandparent," she adds.

The Science Of Shared Amusement

Gathering to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, scientists say, it is likely to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people around the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really primordial mammalian play sound," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared laughter, she says, aids in make and maintain social connections between people.

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

"The people you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to increased levels of 'happy chemical' release," she adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable experiences, such as chuckling with friends over a particularly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are actually doing a lot of the really vital work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

What Happens In the Mind?

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

A tremendous amount happens in reaction to comedy, it transpires.

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which shows which parts of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood flow.

The research entails scanning the brains of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny words, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or recorded laughter.

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

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the mind in charge of auditory processing and interpreting language, but also neural areas involved in both planning and starting motion and those linked to vision and memory.

Put these elements as a whole, and individuals hearing a pun have a sophisticated set of brain reactions that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Scientists discovered that when a humorous phrase is combined with chuckles there is a stronger response in the mind than the identical 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 explains.

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

Amusement, says the professor, can be contagious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles heard around a Christmas gathering?

"People laugh more when you know others," she notes, "and you laugh more when you are fond of them or love them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Is it possible to discover the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist established a scientific project for the planet's most humorous joke.

More than tens of thousands of gags submitted, with ratings lodged by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a better understanding than many as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal festive cracker pun needs to be short, he says.

"They must also be poor gags, jokes that make us moan," he adds.

The increasingly "awful" the joke, he says the better.

"The reason is that if no-one finds it funny – it's the joke's fault, not your own.

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

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