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

By PopEater Staff Posted Aug 25th 2009 03:46PM

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.

Comments

(126)

Tuesday 25 August

By roberta weinstein

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I NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD. SHE WAS GREAT. AND I'M JEWISH.COMICS LIKE HER ARE HANDS ABOVE COMICS LIKE JOY BEHAR WHO IS AS SNOTTY A PERSON AS I HAVE EVER HEARD.SUNDRA IS IN GOOD COMPANY LIKE JOAN RIVERS. LONG MAY SHE REIGN LIKE MS RIVERS.

By Tigger

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Some logic today for you..
Behar is an idiot same with Rivers ergo you are an idiot too...

Wednesday 26 August

By Amanda

Seriously, do people have nothing better to worry about? That's too bad that her feelings got hurt but suck it up and move on! Life is too short to get upset over your daughter in laws jokes! What in the hell is this country coming too? So, now the mother in law is starting a trend where we can just sue someone if we don't like what they say?!?!?! GET A F**KING LIFE! There are more important things to worry about...just be glad you have a home, food, water, clean clothes...there are plenty who are worse off than you "old lady" (mother in law) so quit crying and grow the F-UP!!!!

By Traci

I thought she was hilarious!!! The are just jokes. Lighten up people.

By Cindy

I agree! She is a riot!! Being jewish myself I don't understand why the family isn't laughing and supporting their daughter in laws career. Sueing her own daughter in law is the exact reason Jewish people get made fun of!

By Brissy

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Behar and Rivers are legend, Tigger you are the idiot here!!! Why do we deal with morons in 2009???

By mickey

I didn't even know who her inlaws were until today.

By Nancy

Sad, sad, sad. No wonder she makes jokes about them!

And then again there's all the publicity she's getting from having her in-laws "sue" her.

By jonzbeach

Oh lighten up..she's funny. You will make more fools of yourself and perpetuate the stereotype by trying to litigate an act. Oh..wait...is you son (the lawyer?) going to try the case?

By dAVE

sHE SHOULD REPLACE JOY B ON THE VIEW.

By Marge Friend

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You walk the razor's edge when you point out a certain person to bring before the public, especially in comedian language. She would have been safer making for a non-existant Aunt Lizzie.

By jess

Now if it was a Jewish woman with a black mother-n-law, all hell would have broke loose if jokes like this were told in public! Just another example of what is ok for one group, is not ok for anyone else! If you can dish it out, then you should learn how to take it! I would not sue, a waste of the courts time, but I bet this woman would sue in an instant if her mother-n-law started saying stero-typical jokes about her, now that I would like to see!

By Travis

I have to agree with Pott54 on this one. If you want to know exactly how much african-americans are able to laugh at themselves, watch the Big Black Comedy special. The comedian at the end is a heavy white guy that eventually touches on every race...funniest stand up I've ever seen. The point being that the audience was at least 95% black, and laughed their butts off when he was poking at them. I just think it's an individual response. I think jokes about white guys are funny, and hey, I'm a white guy!

Friday 28 August

By Lee

I wonder what the "Reverand AL" would say about this double standard

By Lyricaldove

I think I worked for many years with Zunda's mother-in-law Ruth if it's the same Ruth Zafran. Ruth is a friendly, intelligent, and gracious woman. She doesn't deserve the hateful jokes about her. If she is suing, the jokes must really be over the top.

By coley

Maybe its not the mother in law at all with the problem...just the encouragement she's getting from her daughter and son in law...hmmm is either of them an attorney???

By jmuzikmon

Ruthie is digging her own grave. Has she no vision of the consequences this vitriolic lawsuit is going to do to the entire family. A joke is not defamation in the eyes of the law. It becomes a he said, she said, situation, and the courts will uphold the free speech rights of Sunda Crooquist. Especially since that's how she makes her living. She is not using hate speach or accusing her Mother in Law of illegal activity, so no harm, no foul. Ruthie just might be causing an alienation that will rob her of her privelege to see her grandchildren. The courts have already ruled that grandparents have no rights of visitation if the parents refuse such. It is sad but maybe Ruthie should have been as open minded as her son in the first place.

I commented before about Ruth. The Ruth I knew is open minded and loving. She must have really felt hurt to have sued.

By natalie

not if your jewish lol

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