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

This joke is greeted with moans that resonate through a warehouse in the capital.

We're at a joke-testing session with a company that produces products for social events. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

The company's owner smiles, almost apologetically at the gag. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in upcoming 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 secret to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal laughter of the Christmas meal with grandparents, kids and potentially friends.

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

The Science Behind Shared Amusement

Coming together to enjoy communal amusement is not only nothing new, scientists say, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are laughing with others at the holiday table you are dropping into what's very likely a really primordial mammal social sound," explains a professor.

Communal laughter, she says, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between people.

Scientists have discovered that a lack of these social exchanges can significantly damage mental and physical well-being.

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

Endorphins are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a particularly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish pun with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly vital task of building, preserving the connections you have with those you love."

What Happens In the Mind?

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

An awful lot happens in reaction to comedy, it transpires.

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

Testing involves scanning the minds of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a database of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or recorded laughter.

"During the study we got a very fascinating activation pattern of neural activity," says the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the mind responsible for auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also brain areas involved in both planning and starting motion and those involved in vision and memory.

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

The Contagious Nature of Chuckles

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

"This activation occurred in areas of the mind that you would employ to move your expression into a smile or a chuckle," she says.

It means we are not just reacting to funny words, they are reacting to the laughter that follows them.

Laughter, according to the expert, can be infectious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the feel-good effect is more likely to be triggered not by the gag in itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Search for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the ultimate joke?

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

In 2001, a professor established a scientific project for the planet's most humorous joke.

Over 40,000 jokes submitted, with ratings lodged by 350,000 participants globally, he has a clearer idea than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal Christmas cracker pun needs to be short, he explains.

"But they also need to be bad jokes, puns that make us groan," he adds.

The more "terrible" the gag, he states the better.

"The reason is that if no-one 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 humorous.

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