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

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

We're at a humor-evaluation meeting with a firm that produces supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire includes festive crackers.

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

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

The secret to a good holiday cracker pun is not the identical as a good joke in itself. It is all about the context - in this instance, the communal amusement of the Christmas meal with grandparents, kids and possibly neighbours.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Shared Amusement

Gathering to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, experts say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"So when you are chuckling with people at the Christmas table you are dropping into what's very likely a really primordial mammalian social sound," explains a professor.

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

Researchers have discovered that a absence of such interactions can seriously damage both psychological and bodily health.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it leads to enhanced levels of endorphin release," the professor continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with loved ones over a truly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the really vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you love."

Which Occurs In the Mind?

But what is actually happening within the brain when we listen to a joke?

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

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, researchers have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood flow.

The research involves scanning the brains of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a collection of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"In the scanner we observed a very interesting pattern of activation," says the professor.

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind responsible for auditory processing and understanding language, but also brain areas associated with both preparation and initiating movement and those linked to vision and memory.

Combine these elements together, and individuals hearing a joke have a sophisticated set of brain reactions that underpin the amusement we hear.

The Contagious Power of Laughter

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

"This was in parts of the mind that you would use to contort your face into a grin or a laugh," she says.

It indicates people are not just reacting to funny words, they are responding to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles heard at a holiday gathering?

"You laugh more when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh further when you like them or care for them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to find the ultimate gag?

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

In 2001, a professor established a scientific project for the planet's funniest gag.

More than tens of thousands of gags later, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what works and what does not.

The perfect Christmas cracker pun must be brief, he explains.

"They must also be poor gags, puns that cause us to moan," he adds.

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

"This is because if no-one laughs – it's the joke's shortcoming, not yours.

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that none of us find them humorous.

"It creates a shared moment around the gathering and I believe it's lovely."