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

This joke is greeted with moans that echo through a storage facility in the capital.

We're at a humor-evaluation session with a company that makes supplies for social events. Its repertoire includes festive crackers.

The company's owner smiles, almost sheepishly at the joke. But the joke has been selected and will appear in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans around the table," she says.

The secret to a great holiday cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up gag per se. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the communal laughter of the holiday dinner table with grandparents, kids and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the gag to be something that unites the child together with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Laughter

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

"So when you are chuckling with people at the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's almost certainly a truly ancient mammalian social vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal amusement, she explains, helps make and maintain social bonds between people.

Researchers have discovered that a absence of these interactions can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' uptake," she adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with friends over a particularly terrible Christmas cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," the expert states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the really vital work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you love."

What Occurs In the Brain?

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

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the brain are more active, researchers have been able to chart the regions that get more blood.

The research entails imaging the brains of healthy subjects and then exposing them to a database of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

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

A gag activates not just the areas of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding speech, but also neural regions involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those involved in vision and recall.

Put these elements together, and individuals listening to a joke have a complex set of brain reactions that support the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Researchers discovered that when a humorous word is paired with laughter there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same phrase when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

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

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

Laughter, according to the expert, can be infectious.

So what does this imply for the chuckles heard at a Christmas table?

"People laugh harder when you know others," she notes, "and laughter increases more when you are fond of them or care for them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she says, the positive effect is more probable to be caused not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a professor set up a research project for the world's funniest gag.

Over 40,000 jokes later, with ratings provided by 350,000 people around the world, he has a clearer idea than most as to what works and what does not.

The perfect festive cracker joke must be short, he explains.

"They must also be bad gags, puns that make us moan," he continues.

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

"This is because if nobody laughs – it's the gag's shortcoming, not your own.

"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker jokes is that not one person find them humorous.

"That's a common experience at the gathering and I believe it's wonderful."