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

This quip is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in the capital.

We're at a humor-evaluation meeting with a company that produces supplies for social events. Its catalogue features Christmas crackers.

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

"You measure the joke by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," she says.

The key to a great holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is all about the context - in this instance, the shared amusement of the Christmas meal with elders, kids and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the joke to be something that unites the child together with the grandparent," she states.

The Science Of Shared Amusement

Coming together to experience shared laughter is not only ancient, scientists argue, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are laughing with others around the holiday dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a really ancient mammalian social sound," says a neuroscience expert.

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

Researchers have discovered that a lack of such social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical well-being.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it leads to increased levels of 'happy chemical' release," the professor continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to enjoyable activities, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly awful Christmas cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the truly important work of building, preserving the connections you have with those you love."

What Occurs Inside the Brain?

But what is truly happening inside the mind when we hear a joke?

A tremendous amount occurs in response to humour, it transpires.

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a kind of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, scientists have been able to chart the areas that get more blood.

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

"In the scanner we observed a really fascinating pattern of activation," notes the neuroscientist.

A joke stimulates not just the parts of the brain responsible for hearing and understanding language, but also neural areas involved in both planning and starting motion and those involved in vision and recall.

Put all of this as a whole, and individuals hearing a pun have a complex set of brain reactions that support the amusement we experience.

The Contagious Power of Laughter

Researchers found that when a humorous word is paired with chuckles there is a stronger response in the brain than the identical phrase when accompanied by a neutral sound.

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

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

Laughter, says the expert, can be contagious.

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

"You laugh harder when you know others," she says, "and laughter increases further when you like them or care for them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the positive factor is more probable to be triggered not by the gag itself, but from the reaction to it.

"The laughter is key. The joke is the dreadful holiday cracker pun, and it's just a reason to laugh together."

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the perfect gag?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a research project for the planet's funniest joke.

More than tens of thousands of gags later, with scores provided by 350,000 people around the world, he has a clearer understanding than most as to what works and what fails.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke needs to be short, he says.

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

The more "terrible" the gag, he says the more effective.

"The reason is that if no-one finds it funny – it's the gag's shortcoming, not yours.

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker jokes is that not one person considers them humorous.

"It creates a common experience around the table and I believe it's wonderful."