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

This joke is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in London.

We're at a joke-testing meeting with a company that makes supplies for social events. Its catalogue features Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, nearly apologetically 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," the founder explains.

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

"You want the joke to be something that brings the child in harmony with the 80-year-old," she adds.

The Neuroscience Of Shared Amusement

Coming together to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, experts say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with people around the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really primordial mammal social sound," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared laughter, she says, helps forge and strengthen social bonds between individuals.

Scientists have discovered that a lack of these interactions can significantly damage mental and physical health.

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

Endorphins are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in response to enjoyable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a truly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," she says. "You are actually performing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you love."

Which Occurs In the Brain?

But what is truly taking place within the brain when we listen to a joke?

A tremendous amount occurs in reaction to comedy, it transpires.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of neural imager which indicates which parts of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood flow.

The research entails imaging the minds of volunteer subjects and then subjecting them to a database of humorous words, paired with either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we got a very interesting pattern of activation," notes the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the mind in charge of auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also brain regions associated with both preparation and starting movement and those linked to vision and recall.

Put all of this together, and individuals hearing a joke have a complex series of neural reactions that support the amusement we experience.

The Contagious Power of Laughter

Scientists found that when a funny phrase is paired with laughter there is a greater response in the mind than the identical phrase when followed by a non-emotional sound.

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

It indicates we are not just responding to humorous jokes, they are reacting to the laughter that accompanies them.

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

"You laugh more when you know others," she says, "and laughter increases further when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she says, the positive factor is more probable to be caused not by the gag in itself, but from the response to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the dreadful holiday cracker joke, and it's just a pretext to chuckle as a group."

The Quest for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the perfect gag?

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

In 2001, a professor set up a research search for the planet's most humorous gag.

Over 40,000 jokes submitted, with scores lodged by 350,000 people globally, he has a clearer understanding than most as to what works and what fails.

The ideal festive cracker joke needs to be brief, he explains.

"They must also be poor gags, puns that cause us to groan," he continues.

The increasingly "awful" the gag, he states the more effective.

"This is because if no-one finds it funny – it's the gag's shortcoming, not yours.

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker jokes is that not one person find them humorous.

"It creates a shared experience at the gathering and I think it's lovely."