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

This joke is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in London.

This describes a joke-testing session with a company that makes supplies for social events. Its repertoire includes festive crackers.

The company's founder smiles, almost apologetically at the gag. But the pun has been selected and will appear in future crackers.

"You measure the joke by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

The secret to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a good gag in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this case, the communal laughter of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and potentially friends.

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

The Science Behind Communal Amusement

Coming together to enjoy shared laughter is not only nothing new, experts argue, it is probably to be pre-human.

"So when you are chuckling with others around the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really primordial mammal play vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

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

Researchers have discovered that a lack of such social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"The people you converse with, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced levels of endorphin release," the professor continues.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with loved ones over a truly awful festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you love."

Which Occurs In the Brain?

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

A tremendous amount happens in response to comedy, it turns out.

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

Testing involves imaging the minds of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a collection of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

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

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding speech, but also neural regions associated with both planning and starting movement and those involved in vision and recall.

Put these elements together, and people hearing a pun have a complex series of neural responses that support the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Researchers discovered that when a funny phrase is combined with laughter there is a greater response in the mind than the same phrase when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in parts of the mind that you would use to contort your face into a smile or a laugh," she explains.

It means we are not just reacting to funny words, they are reacting to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles heard at a holiday gathering?

"People laugh more when you know others," she notes, "and laughter increases more when you like them or love them."

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

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

The Search for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the perfect gag?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a scientific search for the planet's most humorous gag.

Over 40,000 jokes later, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of participants around the world, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke needs to be brief, he explains.

"They must also need to be bad jokes, jokes that make us moan," he adds.

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

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

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

"It creates a shared experience around the gathering and I believe it's wonderful."