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

This joke is met by moans that resonate through a warehouse in London.

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

The company's owner smiles, nearly sheepishly at the joke. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in future crackers.

"You measure the joke by the number of moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," the founder says.

The secret to a great holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up gag per se. It is all about the context - in this case, the communal amusement of the holiday meal with grandparents, kids and possibly friends.

"You want the gag to be a thing that brings the child in harmony with the grandparent," she adds.

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Amusement

Coming together to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, scientists argue, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are laughing with others around the Christmas table you are engaging in what's almost certainly a truly ancient mammal play vocalisation," says a professor.

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

Scientists have found that a lack of these interactions can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced amounts of endorphin uptake," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a truly awful festive cracker joke.

"It's not simply chuckling at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

What Occurs In the Mind?

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

An awful lot happens in response to humour, it turns out.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a kind of neural imager which shows which areas of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood.

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

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

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind in charge of hearing and understanding speech, but also neural areas associated with both preparation and initiating motion and those involved in vision and recall.

Put these elements together, and individuals hearing a joke have a sophisticated series of brain reactions that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Power of Laughter

Researchers discovered that when a funny word is paired with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the brain than the same phrase when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the mind that you would employ to move your face into a grin or a chuckle," she says.

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

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the laughter heard around a holiday table?

"People laugh harder 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 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 joke is the dreadful holiday cracker joke, and it's just a reason to chuckle as a group."

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Will we ever discover the ultimate gag?

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

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

More than 40,000 gags submitted, with ratings provided by 350,000 people around the world, he has a better idea than many as to what works and what fails.

The perfect Christmas cracker pun needs to be brief, he says.

"They must also be poor gags, jokes that cause us to moan," he adds.

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

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

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker jokes is that not one person find them funny.

"It creates a shared experience around the table and I think it's lovely."