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

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

This describes a joke-testing session with a firm that produces products for gatherings. Its catalogue includes Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, almost sheepishly at the gag. But the joke has made the cut and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"You measure the joke by the volume of groans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder says.

The secret to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up gag in itself. It is all about the setting - in this case, the shared amusement of the holiday dinner table with grandparents, kids and potentially friends.

"You want the gag to be a thing that unites the child together with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Laughter

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

"Therefore when you are laughing with others around the holiday dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a truly ancient mammalian social sound," says a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she says, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Researchers have found that a absence of these social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical well-being.

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

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to enjoyable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly terrible festive cracker gag.

"It's not simply laughing at a foolish pun with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are in fact performing a lot of the truly important work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you care about."

Which Happens Inside the Mind?

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

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

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, researchers have been able to map the areas that get more blood flow.

The research involves imaging the brains of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a database of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a very interesting pattern of neural activity," notes the professor.

A joke activates not just the parts of the brain responsible for auditory processing and understanding speech, but also neural areas associated with both planning and initiating movement and those involved in sight and memory.

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

The Infectious Nature of Laughter

Scientists found that when a humorous phrase is paired with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the identical word when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in areas of the brain that you would use to move your face into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

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

Laughter, according to the professor, can be contagious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she explains, the positive factor 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 terrible holiday cracker joke, and it's just a reason to chuckle together."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Will we ever find the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist established a research project for the planet's funniest gag.

More than tens of thousands of jokes later, with scores provided by 350,000 people around the world, he has a better idea than many as to what works and what does not.

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

"But they also need to be poor gags, jokes that make us groan," he adds.

The increasingly "terrible" the gag, he states the more effective.

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

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker puns is that not one person considers them humorous.

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