Keep Your Socks On
Duane Daentl, Former Faculty 1962–1996
Although lack of circulation due to diabetes had caused Mr. Daentl to lose a leg, his comments in a 1990 interview with archivist Judith Jackson proved that he viewed his physical impairment as fodder for yet another moment of slapstick.
This has really been the first year with my prosthesis that I thought the faculty enjoyed my antics more than the students did. I think the students weren’t quite ready when I pulled up my pants leg on stage and took out a nail and hammer and tacked up my sock. I could hear the faculty just roaring behind the curtain. I think some of the students also enjoyed it, but some didn’t know quite how to take it. They don’t realize that it doesn’t bother me. I mean, everybody knows I have an artificial leg, and I don’t mind making fun of it. My bad jokes are something else. The kids will say, “Oh, Mr. Daentl, that joke was terrible,” yet they laugh and keep laughing. So, I call it the ‘Old Man’s Humor.’ It’s subtle.”
