Comedian Sued By Mother-in-Law For Being the Punchline of Too Many Jokes

Comedian Sunda Croonquist is being sued by her mother-in-law after making her the punchline of one too many jokes. Ruth Zafrin is accusing her of spreading false, defamatory and racist lies with the in-law jokes that have become a staple of her comedy routines in nightclubs and on TV channels like Comedy Central.

Croonquist is half-black, half-Swedish, grew up Roman Catholic and married into a Jewish family. To her, the in-law jokes seemed to be a natural routine after living through one culture-clash moment after another. She says there was a time when her in-laws would laugh along with everyone else at the black-member-of-a-Jewish family jokes.

She said:

"They played my tape at Passover one year, and they loved it!"

Things changed, however, after Croonquist posted information on her website while promoting upcoming gigs in New Jersey that her in-laws say allowed anyone to figure out their identities. So, they sued in April in US District Court in New Jersey, where they live.

Her in-laws are seeking unspecified damages and demand that Croonquist remove any offensive statements from her website, routines and recordings. She says she would drop any language that her family finds offensive, but refuses to pay any settlement.

Croonquist's lawyer has filed a motion to have the case dismissed. A judge is scheduled to hear it on September 8.

In the meantime, Croonquist was recently at the Laugh Factor in Hollywood where she tested out some new non-mother-in-law material. This time, instead of her in-laws being the butt of her jokes, it was herself, her lawyer husband (his firm is representing her in the suit), and entertainer Jennifer Lopez. She quipped:

"My father is Swedish, my mother is African-American. You know what that made me growing up? A Puerto Rican! That works for me, honey. ... After having two babies in two years, I look like J-Lo."

Croonquist also says that it should be obvious to her in-laws that she is not anti-Jewish. She converted to Judaism before she met her husband, and keeps a kosher house.

The lawsuit was filed by her mother-in-law, as well as her sister-in-law Shelley Edelman and Shelley's husband Neil.