🔗 Share this article

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

This one-liner is greeted with moans that resonate through a warehouse in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that makes products for gatherings. Its repertoire features festive crackers.

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

"You measure the gag by the volume of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," she says.

The secret to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is entirely about the context - in this case, the shared amusement of the Christmas dinner table with elders, kids and potentially neighbours.

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

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Laughter

Gathering to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, scientists argue, it is likely to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with others around the holiday table you are engaging in what's very likely a truly primordial mammalian play sound," says a neuroscience expert.

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

Scientists have found that a absence of such interactions can significantly damage both psychological and bodily well-being.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it results in enhanced amounts of 'happy chemical' uptake," the professor continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "feel-good compounds" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in reaction to enjoyable activities, such as laughing with loved ones over a truly awful festive cracker gag.

"You're not just chuckling at a silly pun with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are in fact performing a lot of the really important work of building, preserving the social bonds you have with the people you love."

Which Occurs Inside the Brain?

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

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

Using brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which indicates which parts of the brain are working harder, scientists have been able to map the areas that get more blood flow.

The research involves scanning the minds of volunteer participants and then exposing them to a database of humorous words, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or recorded laughter.

"In the scanner we got a very fascinating activation pattern of neural activity," says the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the brain responsible for auditory processing and understanding language, but also brain regions involved in both planning and initiating movement and those involved in sight and recall.

Put all of this as a whole, and individuals listening to a joke have a sophisticated series of neural reactions that support the laughter we experience.

The Contagious Power of Chuckles

Researchers discovered that when a humorous phrase is paired with chuckles there is a greater response in the mind than the identical phrase when followed by a non-emotional sound.

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

It indicates we are not just reacting to funny words, they are reacting to the amusement that follows them.

Amusement, according to the professor, can be infectious.

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

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

When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the positive effect is more likely to be triggered not by the gag in itself, but from the response to it.

"The laughter is key. The joke is the dreadful holiday cracker pun, and it's just a reason to laugh together."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to discover the ultimate joke?

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

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

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

The ideal festive cracker joke needs to be short, he explains.

"But they also be poor gags, puns that make us moan," he continues.

The increasingly "terrible" 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 Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us considers them funny.

"It creates a common experience at the table and I believe it's wonderful."