🔗 Share this article

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

This quip is greeted with moans that resonate through a storage facility in the capital.

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

The firm's owner grins, almost sheepishly at the joke. But the pun has been selected and will feature in future crackers.

"You measure the joke by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans around the table," the founder says.

The key to a great Christmas cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this case, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and possibly friends.

"You want the joke to be a thing that brings the eight-year-old in harmony with the 80-year-old," she adds.

The Science Of Shared Laughter

Coming together to enjoy communal amusement is not only ancient, scientists say, it is likely to be pre-human.

"So when you are chuckling with others around the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's very likely a really ancient mammal social vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Communal amusement, she says, aids in make and maintain social connections between people.

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

"Those you talk to, and laugh with, it results in enhanced amounts of endorphin uptake," the professor adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in response to enjoyable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a particularly terrible Christmas cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish pun with a holiday cracker," the expert states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really vital work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you care about."

Which Occurs In the Mind?

But what is actually happening inside the mind when we hear a joke?

An awful lot occurs in reaction to comedy, it transpires.

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which indicates which parts of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood flow.

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

"During the study we got a really interesting activation pattern of neural activity," notes the neuroscientist.

A joke activates not just the areas of the mind responsible for auditory processing and understanding language, but also brain areas involved in both preparation and starting movement and those involved in vision and recall.

Put all of this as a whole, and people hearing a joke have a sophisticated series of neural reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a humorous phrase is combined with chuckles there is a stronger reaction in the brain than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.

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

It means people are not just responding to humorous words, they are responding to the laughter that follows them.

Laughter, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

"People laugh more when you know people," she says, "and laughter increases further when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she says, the positive factor is more probable to be caused not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

"The laughter is key. The joke is the dreadful Christmas cracker pun, and it's just a reason to chuckle as a group."

The Quest for the Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever find the perfect joke?

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

In 2001, a professor set up a research search for the world's funniest joke.

More than tens of thousands of jokes later, with scores lodged by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a better understanding than most as to what succeeds and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker pun needs to be short, he says.

"But they also be poor gags, puns that cause us to groan," he continues.

The more "awful" the gag, he states the better.

"The reason is that if no-one laughs – it's the joke's shortcoming, not yours.

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us considers them humorous.

"That's a common experience around the table and I believe it's lovely."