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"How much did Santa's sled cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

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

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

The firm's owner grins, nearly apologetically at the gag. But the pun has made the cut and will appear in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the number of groans and the intensity of the groans around the table," the founder says.

The secret to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up gag in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this case, the shared amusement of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, children and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the joke to be something that brings the child in harmony with the 80-year-old," she adds.

The Science Of Shared Laughter

Gathering to experience shared laughter is not only ancient, experts argue, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with others around the holiday table you are engaging in what's very likely a really ancient mammal social vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

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

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

"The people you converse with, and laugh with, it results in increased levels of endorphin uptake," she adds.

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 friends over a truly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert says. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you love."

Which Happens In the Brain?

But what is actually happening within the mind when we hear a gag?

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the regions that get more blood.

Testing involves imaging the brains of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny phrases, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"In the scanner we observed a very interesting activation pattern of neural activity," notes the professor.

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

Combine these elements as a whole, and individuals listening to a pun have a sophisticated series of brain responses that underpin the amusement we hear.

The Contagious Nature of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a funny word is combined with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the brain than the same word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would use to move your face into a smile or a chuckle," she explains.

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

Amusement, says the professor, can be contagious.

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

"You laugh harder when you know people," she notes, "and laughter increases more when you like them or care for them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to find the perfect gag?

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

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

Over 40,000 gags submitted, with ratings provided by 350,000 participants globally, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what works and what fails.

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

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

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

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

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker puns is that not one person find them funny.

"That's a shared experience at the table and I think it's wonderful."