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

This one-liner is greeted with moans that echo through a warehouse in the capital.

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

The firm's owner grins, almost apologetically at the gag. But the joke has been selected and will appear in upcoming crackers.

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

The key to a great Christmas cracker pun is not the identical as a good gag in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal laughter of the Christmas dinner table with elders, children and possibly neighbours.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that brings the child together with the grandparent," she states.

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

Coming together to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, scientists argue, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with others at the holiday table you are engaging in what's very likely a truly primordial mammal social vocalisation," explains a professor.

Communal amusement, she explains, aids in make and maintain social connections between individuals.

Researchers have discovered that a absence of these interactions can seriously damage mental and physical health.

"The people you converse with, and laugh with, it leads to increased amounts of endorphin release," she adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to enjoyable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a particularly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you care about."

Which Occurs In the Brain?

But what is truly happening inside the mind when we listen to a gag?

A tremendous amount happens in reaction to comedy, it turns out.

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of brain scanner which shows which parts of the brain are working harder, researchers have been able to map the regions that receive more blood flow.

The research entails imaging the minds of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny words, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded chuckles.

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

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding language, but also brain regions associated with both preparation and initiating motion and those involved in sight and recall.

Put these elements as a whole, and individuals listening to a pun have a sophisticated set of brain reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a funny phrase is paired with chuckles there is a stronger response in the mind than the same phrase when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the mind that you would employ to move your face into a smile or a laugh," she explains.

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

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh harder when you know others," she says, "and you laugh more when you are fond of them or care for them."

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

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

The Search for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever discover the perfect gag?

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

Years ago, a professor established a scientific search for the planet's most humorous gag.

Over 40,000 jokes submitted, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of participants around the world, he has a better idea than most as to what works and what fails.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke must be brief, he explains.

"But they also be poor jokes, puns that make us groan," he adds.

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

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

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker puns is that none of us find them humorous.

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