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

This quip is greeted with moans that echo through a storage facility in the capital.

This describes a joke-testing session with a company that produces supplies for social events. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

The company's founder smiles, nearly sheepishly at the gag. But the pun has been selected and will feature in future crackers.

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

The secret to a good Christmas cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the shared amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, children and potentially friends.

"The goal is for the gag to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Science Of Shared Laughter

Gathering to experience shared laughter is not only nothing new, scientists say, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people at the Christmas table you are engaging in what's almost certainly a really ancient mammal social vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she says, helps forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Researchers have found that a lack of these interactions can seriously harm both psychological and bodily health.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' release," she continues.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in response to enjoyable activities, such as chuckling with loved ones over a truly terrible festive cracker gag.

"It's not simply laughing at a foolish joke with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

Which Happens Inside the Brain?

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

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

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

Testing entails imaging the brains of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a collection of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a really fascinating pattern of activation," says the professor.

A joke activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for auditory processing and interpreting language, but also neural regions involved in both preparation and starting motion and those involved in sight and recall.

Combine these elements together, and people listening to a joke have a sophisticated series of brain reactions that support the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Scientists found that when a funny phrase is paired with laughter there is a greater response in the mind than the identical phrase when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would use to move your expression into a grin or a laugh," she says.

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

Amusement, says the expert, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh 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 caused not by the gag in itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Search for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever discover the ultimate gag?

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

Years ago, a psychologist set up a research search for the planet's funniest gag.

More than 40,000 gags submitted, with scores lodged by 350,000 people around the world, he has a better understanding than many as to what works and what fails.

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

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

The increasingly "terrible" the joke, he states the better.

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

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that none of us find them funny.

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