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

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

This describes a joke-testing meeting with a company that produces products for gatherings. Its catalogue features Christmas crackers.

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

"You measure the joke by the volume of moans and the loudness of the groans around the table," she says.

The secret to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is all about the context - in this case, the shared amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and possibly neighbours.

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

The Science Behind Communal Amusement

Coming together to experience communal amusement is not only nothing new, experts say, it is likely to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with people around the holiday dinner you are engaging in what's almost certainly a really primordial mammal play vocalisation," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she says, aids in make and maintain social bonds between individuals.

Scientists have found that a absence of such social exchanges can significantly damage mental and physical health.

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

Endorphins 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 terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish joke with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the really vital work of building, preserving the social bonds you have with those you love."

Which Happens Inside the Brain?

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

A tremendous amount occurs in reaction to comedy, it transpires.

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, researchers have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood flow.

Testing entails imaging the brains of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a database of humorous words, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a very fascinating pattern of activation," says the professor.

A joke activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for hearing and interpreting speech, but also neural areas associated with both planning and initiating motion and those linked to sight and memory.

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

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Researchers found that when a funny phrase is combined with laughter there is a stronger response in the brain than the identical word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in areas of the brain that you would employ to contort your expression into a smile or a laugh," the professor says.

It indicates we are not just reacting to funny jokes, they are responding to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles found around a Christmas gathering?

"You laugh harder when you are familiar with people," she notes, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she explains, the positive factor is more likely to be triggered not by the gag in itself, but from the reaction to it.

"It's the laughter. The gag is the dreadful Christmas cracker joke, and it's just a pretext to laugh as a group."

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Is it possible to discover the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist set up a scientific search for the planet's funniest gag.

Over 40,000 jokes later, with scores lodged by 350,000 people globally, he has a clearer idea than most as to what works and what does not.

The perfect festive cracker joke must be short, he explains.

"They must also be bad gags, jokes that make us moan," he continues.

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

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

"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker puns is that not one person considers them funny.

"That's a shared experience around the table and I think it's wonderful."