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

This joke is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in London.

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

The firm's founder smiles, almost apologetically at the joke. But the pun has been selected and will appear in upcoming crackers.

"You measure the gag by the number of moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," the founder says.

The key to a great holiday cracker pun is not the same as a good gag per se. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal laughter of the Christmas meal with elders, kids and possibly neighbours.

"You want the joke to be something that brings the child together with the grandparent," she states.

The Science Of Shared Laughter

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

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people around the holiday dinner you are dropping into what's almost certainly a truly primordial mammalian play sound," says a professor.

Communal amusement, she says, helps make and maintain social bonds between individuals.

Scientists have discovered that a lack of such social exchanges can significantly harm both psychological and bodily well-being.

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

Endorphins are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to enjoyable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a truly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a silly pun with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you care about."

Which Occurs In the Brain?

But what is truly taking place inside the brain when we listen to a gag?

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

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a kind of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood.

The research involves scanning the minds of healthy participants and then exposing them to a database of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded laughter.

"In the scanner we got a really interesting activation pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke stimulates not just the parts of the mind responsible for auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also neural areas involved in both preparation and starting movement and those linked to sight and recall.

Combine these elements as a whole, and people hearing a pun have a complex set of neural responses that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a humorous phrase is paired with laughter there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the identical word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

It indicates people are not just responding to humorous jokes, they are responding to the amusement that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

"You laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she says, "and laughter increases 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 probable to be triggered not by the joke in itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the perfect joke?

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

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

Over tens of thousands of gags later, with ratings provided by 350,000 participants globally, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

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

"But they also need to be poor jokes, puns that cause us to moan," he continues.

The more "terrible" the joke, he says the better.

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

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

"It creates a common moment around the gathering and I think it's wonderful."