Comic Tells One Too Many Jokes About Her Mother-in-Law

In-laws are fun to make fun of, just ask any comic. Well, maybe don't bring it up to Sunda Crooquist, a veteran stand-up who's being sued by her mother-in-law after making her the punchline of too many jokes.

According to the AP, Croonquist's mother-in-law Ruth Zafrin accuses her of spreading defamatory and racist lies through the many zingers she has used during her lengthy career.

The action seeks unspecified damages and demands that Croonquist remove any offensive statements from her Web site, routines and recordings. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey back in April and judge is scheduled to hear a motion to dismiss on Sept. 8.

Croonquist is half-black, half-Swedish, grew up Roman Catholic and married into a Jewish family -- an absolute perfect storm of possible punchlines. She tells the AP that in-law jokes just come natural to her.



A sampling of her jokes:

The one where her mom-in-law reacts to her being pregnant: "OK, now that we know you're having a little girl I want to know what you're naming that little tchotchke. Now we don't want a name that's difficult to pronounce like Shaniqua. We're thinking a name short but delicious. Like Hadassah or Goldie."

The one where she visits her mom-in-law's house for the first time: "I walk in, I say, 'Thank you so much for having me here, Ruthie.' She says, 'The pleasure's all mine, have a seat.'" Then, in a loud aside, 'Harriet, put my pocketbook away.'"

The one where she talks about their differences: "I'm a black woman with a Jewish mother-in-law. Now you know the only thing we have in common, is that we don't wanna get our hair wet. Haaaaaaaay!

"They're nice jokes. There's nothing bad, nothing defamatory," swears Croonquist, who converted to Judaism before she met her husband and keeps a kosher house in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit was filed by mother-in-law Ruth Zafrin, her daughter, Shelley Edelman, and Shelley's husband, Neil. Neither Zafrin, the Edelmans nor their attorney, Lawrence H. Wertheim, returned calls for comment.