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"How much did Santa's sled 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 firm that produces supplies for social events. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

The company's owner grins, nearly apologetically at the gag. But the pun has been selected and will feature in future crackers.

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

The key to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up gag per se. It is all about the setting - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday meal with grandparents, kids and potentially neighbours.

"You want the gag to be something that brings the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Science Of Communal Laughter

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

"So when you are laughing with others around the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a really ancient mammalian social vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared amusement, she says, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between people.

Researchers have discovered that a absence of these interactions can significantly harm both psychological and bodily well-being.

"The people you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to increased levels of endorphin release," the professor adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to enjoyable experiences, such as chuckling with friends over a truly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish pun with a holiday cracker," the expert states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you care about."

What Occurs In the Mind?

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

An awful lot happens in response to humour, it transpires.

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which indicates which parts of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the areas that get more blood flow.

Testing involves imaging the brains of volunteer subjects and then subjecting them to a collection of funny words, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded laughter.

"In the scanner we got a really interesting activation pattern of activation," notes the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the brain in charge of auditory processing and interpreting language, but also brain areas involved in both preparation and initiating motion and those linked to vision and memory.

Combine these elements together, and people hearing a pun have a sophisticated series of brain responses that support the laughter we experience.

The Contagious Power of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a funny phrase is paired with laughter there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would use to contort your face into a grin or a chuckle," she explains.

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

Laughter, says the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this imply for the laughter heard around a holiday table?

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

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

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

The Quest for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the ultimate gag?

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

Years ago, a psychologist set up a scientific project for the world's funniest joke.

More than tens of thousands of jokes later, with scores lodged by 350,000 participants around the world, he has a better understanding than many as to what works and what fails.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke must be brief, he says.

"But they also be poor gags, jokes that cause us to moan," he adds.

The more "awful" the joke, he states the more effective.

"The reason is that if nobody finds it funny – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

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

"That's a shared moment around the table and I believe it's wonderful."