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"What was the price did Father Christmas's sled cost? Zero, it was on the house."

This joke is greeted with groans that echo through a warehouse in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that makes products for gatherings. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, nearly apologetically at the gag. But the joke has been selected and will feature in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the number of moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," the founder says.

The key to a good holiday cracker pun is not the same as a good gag in itself. It is entirely about the context - in this case, the communal laughter of the holiday meal with elders, kids and possibly neighbours.

"You want the gag to be something that unites the eight-year-old in harmony with the grandparent," she adds.

The Neuroscience Of Communal Laughter

Gathering to experience communal laughter is not only ancient, scientists say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with others around the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's almost certainly a truly ancient mammal play sound," says a neuroscience expert.

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

Scientists have discovered that a lack of these social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"The people you converse with, and laugh with, it results in enhanced levels of endorphin release," the professor adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as chuckling with friends over a particularly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly vital work of building, preserving the social bonds you have with the people you love."

Which Occurs Inside the Brain?

But what is actually happening inside the brain when we hear a joke?

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

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a kind of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to map the regions that receive more blood flow.

Testing involves imaging the minds of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a database of humorous words, paired with either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a very interesting pattern of activation," notes the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the brain in charge of hearing and understanding language, but also neural regions involved in both planning and initiating motion and those involved in sight and recall.

Combine all of this together, and individuals listening to a pun have a sophisticated series of neural responses that support the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Researchers found that when a humorous phrase is combined with chuckles there is a greater response in the brain than the same word when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in areas of the brain that you would use to contort your expression into a grin or a chuckle," she explains.

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

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the laughter found at a Christmas gathering?

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

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

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

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the ultimate joke?

Probably not, but that has not prevented researchers from trying to.

In 2001, a professor set up a scientific project for the world's funniest joke.

More than 40,000 jokes submitted, with scores provided by 350,000 people around the world, he has a better idea than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal festive cracker pun needs to be brief, he says.

"They must also be poor gags, jokes that make us groan," he continues.

The more "terrible" the gag, he states the better.

"The reason is that if no-one finds it funny – it's the joke's fault, not your own.

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that none of us find them humorous.

"It creates a shared moment around the gathering and I think it's wonderful."