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

This joke is met by groans that resonate through a storage facility in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation meeting with a firm that makes supplies for gatherings. Its catalogue features festive crackers.

The company's owner grins, nearly apologetically at the joke. But the joke has been selected and will appear in future crackers.

"You measure the gag by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder says.

The key to a great holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal laughter of the holiday dinner table with elders, children and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the joke to be something that unites the child in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Amusement

Gathering to experience shared amusement is not only ancient, scientists argue, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with others around the holiday dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really ancient mammal play vocalisation," explains a professor.

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

Researchers have found that a lack of these interactions can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it leads to enhanced levels of endorphin release," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with loved ones over a truly terrible Christmas cracker joke.

"It's not simply chuckling at a foolish pun with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are actually doing a lot of the really important task of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you love."

What Happens In the Brain?

But what is actually taking place within the mind when we listen to a gag?

An awful lot occurs in reaction to comedy, it transpires.

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to map the areas that get more blood.

The research involves scanning the minds of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny words, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

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

A joke stimulates not just the areas of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding language, but also neural areas associated with both planning and starting movement and those involved in sight and recall.

Combine all of this as a whole, and people listening to a joke have a complex set of neural responses that support the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Scientists discovered that when a humorous word is paired with laughter there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the mind that you would employ to contort your face into a smile or a chuckle," the professor says.

It means people are not just responding to funny words, they are responding to the laughter that follows them.

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the positive effect is more likely to be triggered not by the gag itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Will we ever find the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a professor set up a research project for the planet's funniest joke.

Over 40,000 gags submitted, with scores lodged by hundreds of thousands of participants around the world, he has a better understanding than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The perfect Christmas cracker pun must be short, he says.

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

The increasingly "awful" the joke, he says the more effective.

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

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that not one person considers them funny.

"That's a common moment around the table and I think it's lovely."