Things can be funny only when we are in fun. When we’re ’dead earnest ’ humor is the only thing that is dead.

The line plays on the idiom “dead earnest” to argue that humor depends less on the subject matter than on the listener’s or speaker’s stance. If we approach life with rigid seriousness, we effectively “kill” the possibility of comedy; laughter requires a willingness to be playful, flexible, and a bit detached. The quote also implies that humor is not merely entertainment but a mode of perception—an attitude that keeps situations from becoming emotionally or ideologically frozen. In this sense, Wilson suggests that the absence of humor is a symptom of excessive self-importance or tension, and that staying “in fun” is a way to remain human and resilient.