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

This quip is greeted with groans that resonate through a warehouse in the capital.

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

The firm's founder smiles, nearly apologetically at the joke. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the number of moans and the loudness of the groans around the table," the founder explains.

The secret to a good holiday cracker pun is not the same as a good joke in itself. It is all 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 brings the eight-year-old in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Shared Laughter

Gathering to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, scientists say, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"So when you are chuckling with others at the holiday table you are dropping into what's very likely a truly ancient mammalian social sound," says a professor.

Shared amusement, she explains, helps forge and strengthen social bonds between individuals.

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

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

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a truly terrible Christmas cracker joke.

"It's not simply chuckling at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly important work of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you care about."

What Occurs Inside the Brain?

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

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

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which shows which parts of the brain are working harder, scientists have been able to chart the areas that get more blood flow.

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

"In the scanner we got a really fascinating pattern of activation," says the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the brain in charge of auditory processing and understanding speech, but also brain areas associated with both preparation and starting movement and those involved in vision and recall.

Combine all of this together, and people listening to a pun have a complex series of brain reactions that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Researchers found that when a funny phrase is combined with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same phrase when followed by a neutral sound.

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

It means people are not just responding to humorous words, they are responding to the laughter that follows them.

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the positive factor is more likely to be triggered not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the ultimate gag?

Probably not, but that has not prevented researchers from trying to.

Years ago, a professor set up a research search for the world's most humorous gag.

More than 40,000 gags submitted, with scores lodged 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 pun must be short, he explains.

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

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

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

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker jokes is that not one person find them funny.

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