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"How much did Father Christmas's sleigh cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

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

We're at a joke-testing session with a firm that produces supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

The company's founder grins, almost apologetically at the joke. But the pun has been selected and will feature in upcoming crackers.

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

The key to a good Christmas cracker pun is not the identical as a good gag in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the shared amusement of the holiday meal with elders, children and possibly neighbours.

"You want the gag to be something that unites the child in harmony with the grandparent," she adds.

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

Gathering to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, experts say, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are chuckling with people around the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really primordial mammalian social sound," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal amusement, she says, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Researchers have discovered that a absence of such interactions can seriously damage both psychological and bodily well-being.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it results in enhanced levels of endorphin uptake," she continues.

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

"It's not simply laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly vital work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you care about."

What Happens Inside the Mind?

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

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to map the areas that receive more blood.

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

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

A gag activates not just the areas of the brain in charge of hearing and understanding language, but also neural regions involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those linked to sight and recall.

Combine these elements together, and people hearing a joke have a sophisticated set of brain reactions that support the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Researchers discovered that when a funny word is paired with laughter there is a stronger response in the mind than the identical phrase when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in parts of the brain that you would employ to move your expression into a grin or a chuckle," she explains.

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

Laughter, according to the expert, can be contagious.

So what does this mean for the laughter heard around a Christmas table?

"You laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh more when you are fond of them or love them."

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

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

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Will we ever discover the ultimate joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist set up a scientific search for the planet's most humorous gag.

More than 40,000 jokes submitted, with scores lodged by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a better idea than most as to what works and what does not.

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

"But they also be bad jokes, puns that cause us to groan," he continues.

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

"The reason is that if nobody finds it funny – it's the gag's fault, not yours.

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

"It creates a common moment around the gathering and I think it's wonderful."