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

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

This describes a joke-testing meeting with a firm that produces supplies for social events. Its repertoire features festive crackers.

The firm's founder grins, almost sheepishly at the gag. But the joke has made the cut and will appear in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans around the table," she explains.

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

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

The Science Behind Communal Amusement

Coming together to experience shared amusement is not only nothing new, experts say, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are chuckling with people at the holiday table you are engaging in what's almost certainly a truly primordial mammal play vocalisation," explains a professor.

Shared laughter, she explains, helps make and maintain social bonds between people.

Scientists have found that a lack of these social exchanges can significantly damage both psychological and bodily health.

"Those you converse with, and laugh with, it leads to increased amounts of 'happy chemical' release," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with friends over a particularly terrible festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a silly pun with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are in fact performing a lot of the truly important task of building, preserving the social bonds you have with those you care about."

What Happens Inside the Brain?

But what is actually happening inside the brain when we listen to a gag?

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of brain scanner which shows which areas of the mind are working harder, scientists have been able to chart the areas that get more blood flow.

Testing involves scanning the minds of healthy participants and then exposing them to a database of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a really fascinating pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the parts of the mind in charge of hearing and interpreting language, but also neural areas involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those involved in sight and recall.

Put these elements together, and individuals listening to a joke have a complex series of brain reactions that underpin the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Scientists discovered that when a humorous phrase is paired with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the mind than the same phrase when followed by a neutral sound.

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

It means people are not just reacting to funny jokes, they are reacting to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the professor, can be contagious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the feel-good factor is more probable to be triggered not by the joke itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the perfect gag?

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

In 2001, a professor established a scientific project for the world's most humorous gag.

More than tens of thousands of jokes submitted, with scores lodged by 350,000 participants globally, he has a better idea than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

The perfect Christmas cracker joke needs to be short, he says.

"They must also need to be bad jokes, jokes that cause us to moan," he continues.

The more "terrible" the joke, he says the more effective.

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

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker jokes is that not one person considers them funny.

"It creates a shared experience around the table and I believe it's wonderful."