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

This one-liner is greeted with groans that resonate through a storage facility in the capital.

We're at a joke-testing session with a firm that makes products for social events. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

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

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

The key to a great 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 grandparents, kids and possibly neighbours.

"The goal is for the joke to be something that unites the child in harmony with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Science Behind Communal Amusement

Gathering to enjoy shared amusement is not only nothing new, scientists say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people around the Christmas table you are engaging in what's almost certainly a really primordial mammal play sound," explains a professor.

Communal amusement, she says, aids in make and maintain social connections between people.

Researchers have discovered that a lack of these social exchanges can seriously damage mental and physical health.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to increased levels of endorphin uptake," she adds.

Endorphins are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with loved ones over a particularly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," she says. "You are in fact performing a lot of the truly vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you care about."

What Occurs Inside the Brain?

But what is actually taking place inside the brain when we hear a gag?

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

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which shows which parts of the brain are working harder, scientists have been able to map the regions that get more blood.

The research entails scanning the brains of volunteer subjects and then exposing them to a database of funny phrases, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we got a very interesting activation pattern of neural activity," says the neuroscientist.

A gag stimulates not just the parts of the brain responsible for hearing and understanding speech, but also neural areas involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those involved in sight and recall.

Put these elements as a whole, and people hearing a joke have a complex set of brain responses that support the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Researchers found that when a funny word is paired with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the identical word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

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

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

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh more when you know people," she says, "and you laugh further when you are fond of them or care for them."

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

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

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever find the ultimate joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist established a scientific project for the world's funniest joke.

Over 40,000 jokes submitted, with ratings provided by 350,000 people globally, he has a better understanding than most as to what works and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker pun must be short, he says.

"They must also be bad gags, puns that make us groan," he continues.

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

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

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that not one person find them humorous.

"It creates a common experience around the table and I believe it's lovely."