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"How much did Father Christmas's sled cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This one-liner is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in the capital.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a company that produces products for social events. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, almost apologetically at the gag. But the joke has been selected and will feature in upcoming crackers.

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

The secret to a great Christmas cracker pun is not the identical as a stand-up joke per se. It is all about the context - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and potentially friends.

"You want the gag to be something that unites the eight-year-old in harmony with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Amusement

Gathering to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, scientists say, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with others at the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really ancient mammal play vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Shared amusement, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Scientists have found that a lack of these social exchanges can seriously damage both psychological and bodily health.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' release," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to alleviate stress and pain and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as chuckling with loved ones over a truly terrible Christmas cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish joke with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the really vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

Which Occurs Inside the Mind?

But what is truly taking place within the mind when we hear a gag?

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

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood flow.

The research entails scanning the minds of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a collection of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we got a really interesting pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A joke stimulates not just the parts of the brain responsible for hearing and interpreting language, but also brain areas associated with both preparation and starting motion and those linked to sight and recall.

Put all of this as a whole, and individuals listening to a pun have a sophisticated set of brain reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Contagious Power of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a humorous phrase is combined with chuckles there is a stronger response in the brain than the identical phrase when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would employ to contort your face into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

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

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the feel-good factor is more probable to be caused not by the gag itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Will we ever find the ultimate joke?

Probably not, but that has not stopped experts from trying to.

In 2001, a psychologist established a research project for the world's most humorous joke.

Over tens of thousands of jokes later, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of participants around the world, he has a better understanding than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

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

"They must also need to be poor jokes, jokes that cause us to groan," he adds.

The more "terrible" the gag, he states the more effective.

"The reason is that if nobody finds it funny – it's the gag's shortcoming, not your own.

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

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