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"How much did Santa's sled cost? Zero, it was on the house."

This joke is met by moans that echo through a storage facility in the capital.

This describes a humor-evaluation meeting with a firm that makes products for gatherings. Its repertoire includes festive crackers.

The company's founder smiles, nearly sheepishly at the gag. But the pun has made the cut and will appear in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans at the table," the founder says.

The secret to a great holiday cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the communal laughter of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, children and possibly friends.

"You want the gag to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old in harmony with the grandparent," she adds.

The Science Behind Shared Laughter

Gathering to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, experts argue, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are laughing with people around the Christmas table you are engaging in what's very likely a truly ancient mammal play sound," says a professor.

Shared laughter, she says, helps make and maintain social connections between people.

Scientists have found that a absence of such interactions can seriously damage mental and physical well-being.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to increased levels of 'happy chemical' release," the professor adds.

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

"You're not just chuckling at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are actually doing a lot of the really vital work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

What Happens In the Mind?

But what is truly happening inside the brain when we hear a gag?

A tremendous amount occurs in reaction to humour, it turns out.

Using brain scanning technology, a type of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to map the regions that get more blood flow.

Testing 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 observed a very fascinating activation pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind in charge of hearing and understanding speech, but also neural regions associated with both preparation and initiating movement and those linked to vision and recall.

Combine all of this together, and individuals hearing a pun have a sophisticated set of brain responses that underpin the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a humorous phrase is paired with chuckles there is a stronger response in the mind than the identical word when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would use to contort your face into a grin or a chuckle," the professor says.

It means we are not just reacting to humorous words, they are responding to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles found at a Christmas gathering?

"People laugh more when you know people," she says, "and laughter increases more when you are fond of them or care for them."

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she says, the positive factor is more probable to be caused not by the gag in itself, but from the reaction to it.

"The laughter is key. The joke is the terrible Christmas cracker pun, and it's just a pretext to chuckle together."

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever discover the perfect gag?

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

Years ago, a professor established a scientific project for the world's funniest joke.

More than tens of thousands of gags later, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a clearer idea than many as to what works and what fails.

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

"They must also be poor gags, jokes that make us groan," he adds.

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

"The reason is that if nobody laughs – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us considers them funny.

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