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

This one-liner is greeted with moans that echo through a storage facility in London.

We're at a humor-evaluation session with a company that makes products for gatherings. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

The company's founder smiles, almost sheepishly at the joke. But the joke has made the cut and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the volume of groans and the intensity of the groans at the table," she explains.

The secret to a good Christmas cracker joke 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, kids and possibly friends.

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

The Science Behind Communal Laughter

Gathering to experience communal laughter is not only nothing new, experts argue, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with people at the holiday table you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really ancient mammal play vocalisation," says a professor.

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

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

"The people you converse with, and laugh with, it results in enhanced amounts of endorphin uptake," she adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to enjoyable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a particularly awful Christmas cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert says. "You are actually doing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

What Happens In the Brain?

But what is actually happening within the mind when we hear a gag?

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood flow.

The research entails scanning the brains of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a collection of funny words, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a very fascinating activation pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also brain areas associated with both planning and starting movement and those involved in sight and memory.

Combine these elements as a whole, and people hearing a pun have a complex series of neural responses that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

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

"This was in parts of the brain that you would employ to move your face into a grin or a laugh," she says.

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

Laughter, according to the professor, can be contagious.

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

"People laugh more when you know people," she notes, "and laughter increases more when you like them or love them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever discover the ultimate gag?

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

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

Over 40,000 jokes submitted, with ratings lodged by 350,000 participants globally, he has a clearer idea than many as to what works and what does not.

The perfect festive cracker pun needs to be short, he says.

"But they also be poor gags, jokes that make us moan," he continues.

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

"This is because if nobody laughs – it's the joke's fault, not your own.

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

"It creates a common experience at the gathering and I think it's wonderful."