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

This joke is met by groans that echo through a storage facility in the capital.

We're at a joke-testing session with a company that makes supplies for social events. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

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

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

The key to a good Christmas cracker pun is not the same as a good joke per se. It is all about the context - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, children and possibly friends.

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

The Neuroscience Of Shared Amusement

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

"So when you are laughing with people at the holiday table you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really ancient mammal social vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared laughter, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between people.

Scientists have discovered that a absence of these interactions can seriously damage both psychological and bodily well-being.

"The people you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to enhanced amounts of endorphin release," she adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are released both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly terrible festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," she says. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly vital work of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you love."

What Happens In the Brain?

But what is truly happening within the brain when we hear a joke?

A tremendous amount occurs in response to comedy, it turns out.

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of neural imager which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, scientists have been able to map the areas that receive more blood.

Testing entails scanning the brains of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a collection of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded chuckles.

"In the scanner we got a really interesting activation pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke stimulates not just the areas of the mind responsible for hearing and understanding language, but also neural regions involved in both preparation and starting motion and those involved in sight and memory.

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

The Infectious Power of Laughter

Scientists found that when a funny phrase is combined with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the mind than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.

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

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

Amusement, says the expert, can be contagious.

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

"People laugh harder when you know people," she notes, "and you laugh further when you like them or care for them."

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she says, the feel-good effect is more probable to be caused not by the joke in itself, but from the response to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the terrible holiday cracker joke, and it's just a pretext to chuckle together."

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to find the ultimate joke?

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

In 2001, a psychologist established a scientific search for the world's most humorous joke.

Over tens of thousands of jokes submitted, with ratings lodged by 350,000 participants around the world, he has a better idea than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

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

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

The more "terrible" the joke, he says the more effective.

"The reason is that if nobody laughs – it's the joke's shortcoming, not yours.

"The fascinating part about the holiday cracker puns is that none of us find them humorous.

"It creates a shared moment at the table and I believe it's wonderful."