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"How much did Father Christmas's sled cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This one-liner is met by moans that echo through a storage facility in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that produces supplies for gatherings. Its catalogue features Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, almost apologetically at the gag. But the joke has been selected and will appear in upcoming crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

The key to a great Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke per se. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal amusement of the Christmas dinner table with elders, children and possibly friends.

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

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Amusement

Coming together to experience communal laughter is not only nothing new, experts say, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are chuckling with people at the holiday dinner you are dropping into what's very likely a really primordial mammalian social sound," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she says, helps forge and strengthen social connections between people.

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

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it results in enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' uptake," the professor continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate stress and pain and in response to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a truly awful festive cracker gag.

"It's not simply laughing at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are actually doing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you love."

What Happens Inside the Mind?

But what is truly taking place within the brain when we listen to a joke?

A tremendous amount happens in response to humour, it turns out.

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which indicates which areas of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to map the areas that get more blood flow.

Testing entails imaging the brains of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a database of humorous words, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or recorded laughter.

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

A joke activates not just the parts of the brain responsible for hearing and interpreting language, but also brain regions involved in both preparation and initiating motion and those involved in vision and memory.

Put all of this as a whole, and people hearing a joke have a complex set of brain reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Contagious Power of Laughter

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

"This activation occurred in areas of the mind that you would use to move your face into a grin or a chuckle," the professor explains.

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

Laughter, says the professor, can be contagious.

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

"You laugh more when you are familiar with others," she says, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she says, the positive effect is more probable 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 reason to laugh together."

The Search for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever discover the ultimate joke?

Probably not, but that has not prevented researchers from attempting to.

In 2001, a psychologist set up a scientific search for the planet's most humorous gag.

More than 40,000 jokes submitted, with ratings provided by 350,000 participants globally, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke must be brief, he says.

"They must also need to be poor jokes, jokes that make us moan," he adds.

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

"This is because if nobody laughs – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us considers them humorous.

"That's a shared moment around the gathering and I think it's lovely."