The Impact of Christmas Cracker Gags Influence Our Minds?

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

This one-liner is met by groans that echo through a warehouse in London.

We're at a joke-testing meeting with a firm that makes products for gatherings. Its catalogue includes Christmas crackers.

The company's founder smiles, almost apologetically at the gag. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in upcoming crackers.

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

The secret to a good holiday cracker joke is not the identical as a good joke per se. It is all about the setting - in this case, the shared amusement of the Christmas meal with grandparents, children and possibly neighbours.

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

The Science Of Communal Amusement

Gathering to experience shared amusement is not only ancient, experts say, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"So when you are laughing with people at the Christmas table you are engaging in what's very likely a really ancient mammalian play sound," says a professor.

Communal amusement, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between people.

Scientists have found that a lack of these interactions can seriously damage both psychological and bodily health.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it leads to increased amounts of endorphin release," the professor continues.

Endorphins are the brain's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to enjoyable activities, such as laughing with friends over a truly terrible festive cracker joke.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," the expert says. "You are actually performing a lot of the really vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you care about."

What Occurs In the Mind?

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

A tremendous amount occurs in response to humour, it transpires.

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

The research involves imaging the minds of volunteer subjects and then subjecting them to a database of humorous phrases, paired with either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a really interesting pattern of activation," notes the professor.

A gag activates not just the areas of the brain responsible for hearing and interpreting speech, but also neural areas involved in both planning and starting motion and those linked to vision and recall.

Put all of this together, and people listening to a joke have a complex set of brain reactions that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Power of Laughter

Researchers discovered that when a humorous phrase is combined with laughter there is a stronger response in the mind than the identical word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would use to contort your expression into a grin or a chuckle," the professor explains.

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

Laughter, says the expert, can be infectious.

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

"You laugh harder when you know others," she says, "and laughter increases more when you like them or care for them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she explains, the positive effect is more probable to be triggered not by the gag in itself, but from the reaction 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 Perfect Festive Pun

Will we ever discover the ultimate joke?

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

In 2001, a psychologist set up a scientific project for the planet's funniest joke.

Over 40,000 gags later, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of participants globally, he has a clearer understanding than most as to what succeeds and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker joke needs to be brief, he says.

"But they also be bad gags, jokes that make us groan," he continues.

The increasingly "awful" the gag, he says the more effective.

"This is because if no-one laughs – it's the gag's shortcoming, not your own.

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker jokes is that none of us find them funny.

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