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"How much did Santa's sled cost? Zero, it was on the house."

This quip is met by moans that resonate through a storage facility in the capital.

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

The firm's founder smiles, nearly apologetically at the joke. But the pun has been selected 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," the founder explains.

The secret to a great Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up gag in itself. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the shared laughter of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, kids and possibly neighbours.

"You want the joke to be a thing that brings the child together with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Amusement

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

"So when you are chuckling with people around the holiday table you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really primordial mammal play sound," explains a professor.

Shared laughter, she says, aids in make and maintain social bonds between people.

Researchers have discovered that a lack of such social exchanges can seriously damage both psychological and bodily well-being.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it results in increased levels of 'happy chemical' uptake," the professor adds.

Endorphins are the body's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with friends over a particularly terrible festive cracker joke.

"It's not simply chuckling at a silly joke with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are actually performing a lot of the really important work of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you care about."

What Occurs In the Brain?

But what is actually taking place within the mind when we hear a joke?

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

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the brain are more active, researchers have been able to chart the regions that get more blood flow.

Testing involves imaging the minds of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a database of humorous words, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we observed a really fascinating activation pattern of activation," says the professor.

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding speech, but also brain regions associated with both preparation and initiating motion and those linked to vision and recall.

Combine all of this as a whole, and people hearing a joke have a sophisticated set of neural reactions that support the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Researchers found that when a funny word is combined with laughter there is a greater response in the mind than the same phrase when followed by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the brain that you would employ to contort your face into a smile or a chuckle," she says.

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

Laughter, says the professor, can be contagious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles heard at a holiday gathering?

"People laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she notes, "and you laugh more when you are fond of them or care for them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the positive effect is more likely to be triggered not by the joke itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever find the ultimate gag?

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

In 2001, a professor established a scientific search for the planet's funniest joke.

Over tens of thousands of gags submitted, with scores lodged by 350,000 people globally, he has a better understanding than most as to what works and what does not.

The ideal festive cracker joke must be brief, he explains.

"They must also need to be poor gags, jokes that make us moan," he continues.

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

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

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

"It creates a shared moment at the table and I think it's wonderful."