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

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

We're at a joke-testing meeting with a company that makes products for social events. Its catalogue features festive crackers.

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

"You measure the gag by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans around the table," the founder explains.

The key to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a good joke in itself. It is all about the setting - in this case, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with grandparents, children and possibly neighbours.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Laughter

Gathering to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, scientists say, it is probably to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with people at the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a truly ancient mammalian social sound," explains a professor.

Communal amusement, she says, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between people.

Researchers have discovered that a lack of these interactions can seriously harm both psychological and bodily health.

"Those you converse with, and laugh with, it results in enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' uptake," she continues.

Endorphins are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce stress and pain and in response to enjoyable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a particularly awful festive cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly pun with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly vital task of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you care about."

Which Happens Inside the Mind?

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

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

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which shows which areas of the brain are more active, researchers have been able to map the regions that get more blood.

The research entails scanning the minds of volunteer subjects and then subjecting them to a database of funny phrases, paired with either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we observed a really interesting pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the brain in charge of hearing and interpreting language, but also brain areas involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those linked to vision and recall.

Combine these elements together, and individuals hearing a joke have a complex set of neural responses that support the amusement we hear.

The Contagious Nature of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a funny phrase is paired with chuckles there is a greater response in the brain than the same word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This was in parts of the mind that you would use to contort your face into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

It indicates we are not just responding to humorous jokes, they are responding to the laughter that follows them.

Amusement, says the professor, can be contagious.

So what does this imply for the chuckles found at a holiday table?

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

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she explains, the feel-good effect is more likely to be triggered not by the gag itself, but from the reaction to it.

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

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever find the perfect gag?

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

Years ago, a professor established a research project for the world's funniest gag.

More than 40,000 gags later, with ratings lodged by 350,000 people around the world, he has a better idea than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal festive cracker pun needs to be brief, he explains.

"They must also need to be bad gags, puns that make us moan," he continues.

The increasingly "awful" the joke, he states the more effective.

"This is because if no-one finds it funny – it's the joke's fault, not your own.

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

"It creates a shared moment at the table and I think it's lovely."