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

This quip is greeted with moans that resonate through a storage facility in London.

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

The firm's owner grins, almost sheepishly at the gag. But the joke has made the cut and will appear in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the volume of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

The secret to a good holiday cracker joke is not the identical as a good gag per se. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal laughter of the Christmas dinner table with elders, kids and potentially neighbours.

"You want the joke to be a thing that brings the child in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

Coming together to experience communal amusement is not only nothing new, scientists argue, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people around the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a truly ancient mammal play vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between individuals.

Researchers have discovered that a absence of these social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical well-being.

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

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

"You're not just chuckling at a silly joke with a holiday cracker," she says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really vital task of building, preserving the social bonds you have with those you love."

Which Happens Inside the Mind?

But what is actually taking place inside the brain when we listen to a joke?

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

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

Testing involves imaging the brains of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we got a very interesting activation pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A gag activates not just the parts of the mind in charge of hearing and understanding speech, but also brain regions involved in both preparation and starting movement and those involved in sight and memory.

Put these elements together, and individuals listening to a joke have a sophisticated set of neural reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Contagious Nature of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a humorous word is paired with chuckles there is a greater response in the brain than the same word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the brain that you would employ to contort your face into a grin or a laugh," she explains.

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

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh more when you are familiar with others," she says, "and laughter increases further when you like them or love them."

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

"It's the laughter. The gag is the dreadful Christmas cracker pun, and it's just a pretext to laugh together."

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to find the ultimate joke?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a scientific project for the world's funniest gag.

Over tens of thousands of gags submitted, with ratings lodged by hundreds of thousands of participants globally, he has a better idea than many as to what works and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke must be short, he explains.

"But they also be poor gags, puns that cause us to groan," he adds.

The increasingly "terrible" the joke, he states the more effective.

"This is because if nobody finds it funny – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

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

"That's a common moment at the gathering and I believe it's lovely."