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

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

We're at a joke-testing session with a firm that produces supplies for social events. Its repertoire includes festive crackers.

The company's founder grins, nearly sheepishly at the joke. But the joke has been selected and will feature in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the volume of groans and the loudness of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

The key to a great holiday cracker pun is not the identical as a good gag in itself. It is entirely about the context - in this instance, the shared amusement of the holiday dinner table with grandparents, kids and potentially friends.

"You want the joke to be a thing that unites 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, scientists say, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are laughing with others at the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really primordial mammalian play vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she explains, helps make and maintain social connections between people.

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

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it results in enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' uptake," she continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with friends over a truly awful festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are actually doing a lot of the really vital work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you love."

Which Happens In the Mind?

But what is truly happening within the mind when we listen to a gag?

A tremendous amount happens in response to comedy, it transpires.

Using brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are working harder, researchers have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood flow.

Testing involves imaging the minds of volunteer subjects and then exposing them to a database of humorous phrases, paired with either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"In the scanner we got a really interesting pattern of activation," notes the neuroscientist.

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the brain in charge of auditory processing and interpreting language, but also brain regions associated with both preparation and initiating movement and those involved in sight and memory.

Put all of this as a whole, and individuals hearing a joke have a complex set of neural reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Researchers discovered that when a humorous word is combined with chuckles there is a stronger response in the mind than the identical phrase when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in parts of the brain that you would use to contort your face into a grin or a chuckle," the professor explains.

It means we are not just responding to humorous jokes, they are responding to the amusement that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the expert, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the laughter found around a holiday gathering?

"People laugh harder when you know others," she says, "and you laugh further when you like them or love them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever find the ultimate gag?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a research search for the planet's most humorous joke.

More than 40,000 gags submitted, with scores lodged by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a better idea than many as to what works and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker pun needs to be short, he explains.

"But they also need to be poor jokes, jokes that cause us to moan," he continues.

The increasingly "awful" the gag, he says the better.

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

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

"It creates a shared experience around the gathering and I believe it's lovely."