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

This quip is met by groans that echo through a storage facility in the capital.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that produces supplies for social events. Its catalogue features festive crackers.

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

"You measure the gag by the volume of moans and the loudness of the groans around the table," she says.

The key to a great holiday cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up joke per se. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the shared amusement of the Christmas dinner table with elders, children and possibly friends.

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

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

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

"So when you are laughing with people at the holiday table you are engaging in what's very likely a really ancient mammalian play sound," explains a professor.

Shared laughter, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Researchers have discovered that a absence of these social exchanges can seriously damage mental and physical well-being.

"Those you converse with, and laugh with, it results in enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' release," the professor adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in reaction to enjoyable experiences, such as chuckling with friends over a truly awful Christmas cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly joke with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are actually performing a lot of the really important task of building, preserving the social bonds you have with the people you care about."

Which Occurs Inside the Brain?

But what is actually taking place inside the brain when we listen to a joke?

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

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which shows which parts of the mind are working harder, scientists have been able to map the areas that get more blood flow.

Testing entails scanning the brains of volunteer subjects and then exposing them to a collection of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we got a very interesting activation pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind in charge of auditory processing and understanding speech, but also brain areas involved in both planning and starting movement and those involved in sight and memory.

Put these elements together, and people listening to a joke have a sophisticated series of neural responses that support the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Researchers discovered that when a funny phrase is paired with laughter there is a greater reaction in the brain than the identical phrase when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a grin or a chuckle," the professor says.

It indicates we are not just responding to funny jokes, they are responding to the amusement that follows them.

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she says, "and you laugh further when you are fond of them or care for them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she explains, the feel-good effect is more likely to be triggered not by the joke itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Search for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever discover the perfect gag?

Probably not, but that has not prevented researchers from trying to.

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

More than 40,000 jokes submitted, with ratings provided by 350,000 participants around the world, he has a better idea than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

The ideal festive cracker pun must be short, he says.

"They must also be bad gags, jokes that make us moan," he adds.

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

"This is because if nobody finds it funny – it's the gag's fault, not your own.

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

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