Jewish Mother-in-Law Sues Over 'Malicious' Stand-Up Jokes

In a case that seems suspiciously like a win-win for everybody involved, a Midwood grandmother is suing her stand-up comedian daughter-in-law for "defaming her with racist lies" in her comedy routines. Sunda Croonquist of Paterson does pretty standard comedy club material about her husband Mark Zafrin's family, sharing her experiences as a black woman marrying into a Jewish family, joking that "Jews don't know how to whisper" and having "two kids in two years makes her suicidal, having two kids in one year would make her Orthodox." After years of allegedly enjoying the material, now Ruth Zafrin has apparently taken offense to the barbs she finds "malicious" and "based on hatred towards her." Two other in-laws have signed on as co-plaintiffs and to give the whole affair the ultimate whiff of a hack sitcom pilot, the comedian Croonquist is being represented by her lawyer husband, taking on his mother. Croonquist claims that her in-law and family jokes are not mean-spirited (she also "converted to Judaism" and "keeps a kosher house"), but rather, "natural laugh-getters." In case this all isn't enough free publicity for everyone involved, watch Croonquist's act and decide for yourself after the jump.