Stand-up comedian Shoonda Croonquist — she’s been seen on Comedy Central — is being sued by her mother-in-law. The half-black, half-Swedish, Roman Catholic-raised comic that married a Jew, has built her routine around talking about the cultural clashes in her life.
And she’s not shy about making the in-laws the butt of her jokes.
Take the one about her mother-in-law’s reaction to news she was pregnant with her first child: “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.”
Or her first visit to her mother-in-law’s house: “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.'”
Though Croonquist and her husband are now estranged from his family, it wasn’t always that way; they once loved her routines. “They played my tape at Passover one year, and they loved it!” The turning point seems to be when she put information on her website that made it easy for people to figure her in-laws’ identities.
Shoonda has stated that she’s willing to change or remove offensive wording from her website, but she won’t pay a settlement. She maintains that she’s not anti-Jewish, especially since she has converted to Judaism and keeps a kosher household. Beyond all, the show must go on.
In the meantime, Croonquist, who lives in Beverly Hills and is a regular on the Hollywood comedy circuit, was at the Laugh Factory on open-mic night recently, eager to test some new non-mother-in-law material. This time the butt of her jokes would be herself, her lawyer husband (his firm is representing her in the lawsuit) and entertainer Jennifer Lopez.
“My father is Swedish, my mother is African-American. You know what that made me growing up?” she asks the audience. “A Puerto Rican! That works for me, honey. … After having two babies in two years, I look like J-Lo.”
Still, she couldn’t resist getting a few yucks out of her in-laws, although this time she left their first names out of the act.
Doing her sister-in-law during their first meeting (and in a New Jersey accent the lawsuit notes Croonquist has said sounds “like a cat in heat”): “Oh my Gawd, look at her, she’s got light eyes and light hair. What kind of black person is she?”
Then herself (in a black urban street voice): “I said, ‘A black person who can hear, that’s who.'”
Then (as Haley Joel Osment might sound in “The Sixth Sense,” if he spoke in a black urban accent): “I hear white people!”
“They’re nice jokes. There’s nothing bad, nothing defamatory,”
It all leads me to ask: Is this free speech? Is it racism? And if it is racist talk, should it be prohibited?
I’d call it free speech. I think in comedy and art, one should express however they want. (with the obvious exception of breaking the law like kiddie porn, murder etc) It is up to the listener/audience/viewer to determine if what is expressed is appreciated.
I agree — comedy, art, and free speech. If comedy sets had to be clean and inoffensive, Bill Cosby might be the only working comic.
I do, however, see the gray area, where a private citizen is being pushed into the public sphere for profit in an arguably less-than-flattering manner. Litigable? Debatable.
Btw, it’s “Sunda” Croonquist. And I’m guessing that’s not a stage name.
Since the law firm her husband works for is the one representing her in the lawsuit, isn’t it possible this whole kerfuffle is just a mildly complex hoax designed by Croonquist and her in-laws to give her career a publicity boost? Maybe I’m jaded but that makes more sense to me than anything else.
She’s funny! That’s her JOB!
I think the mother in law is a jealous bitch. And this girl is very funny, i have never heard of her before, but i really think she’s funny. I don’t think this is racism, she’s talking about her experience with her husband’s jewish family, the stories are probably true as well, so the mother in law should get a job or something to do, other than getting her nose where it don’t belong.. Chelsea Handler makes fun of jewish people constantly, and nobody complains! because is too funny, and Chelsea is awesome. So let them be, they’re not doing it with a bad intention, therefore, i don’t consider it racism.
Is this free speech?
Yes it is. It’s totally protected by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Is it racism?
No. It’s not hate based — it’s humor based on cultural, ethnic, and racial references, and not a big deal unless your an overly sensitive, ultra-liberal, politically correct whiney cry baby. Get over yourself and your agenda and learn to laugh a bit. Whether you like it or not behind every stereotype is some truth. If this wasn’t true, people wouldn’t laugh at such jokes in the first place.
And if it is racist talk, should it be prohibited?
No. Why? See the first reply above. When we start banning freedom of expression only because some people might find it offensive and when it does not directly result in imminent danger or harm to another person or persons, it is the beginning of the end of America. For those who want such laws, consider moving to the likes China, Iran, or North Korea.
What Señor said. There’s a huge difference between ‘racist’ and racial.
I’m pretty damn liberal and I oppose the overuse of PC terms and regulations. So what was my agenda again? I also have a feeling that China, Iran, and North Korea are also the OPPOSITE of ultra-liberal, not places where liberals would want to live to escape PC jargon.
Well, here in America, the term “liberal” is somewhat of a misnomer. Many of the so-called liberal based policies that we have in this country are anything but that. There are people who love to describe themselves as oh-so liberal and all about personal freedoms and rights. Then when you ask them about how they feel regarding the 2nd Amendment and the right to own and carry firearms, it’s “Oh, well that’s different.” Quite often they support related policies imilar to those in place in China, Iran, and North Korea, and they aren’t quite so “liberal” after all.
True dat.
The very question, “should it be prohibited?”, sends chills up my spine. Prohibited why?
She’s not yelling fire in a crowded movie theater, inciting violence, or fomenting hate. Prohibited?? What, and fine her or lock her up?
Not in the land of the free, and amen to that!
I think her name is Sunda? http://www.sundalive.com
She has every right to make the jokes, but i can’t blame the in-law for not wanting to be easily recognizable in her routine
why would you even ask if it should be prohibited? what a stupid question. only from wendie. it’s a comedy routine for f’s sake and i’m sure her material has to be better than yours!
If this girl is being sued, Russell Peters should be shot! LoL (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the guy!) But it’s one thing to talk about them, and a whole other one to make them identifiable to the public. THAT I blame her for. The jokes on the other hand are great!
Notice it’s not a defamation suit. Sounds more like the mother-in-law & co. are the racist ones. They probably just don’t want so much attention drawn to how ridiculous they sound. Too bad for them, all speech is protected as free – even things that piss you off or make you look like an idiot.
that really sucks..
i’m a stand up comedian too (amateur), and believe me, i’d say anything for some good laughters. anything.
i felt a little embarassed when my family came over to see me for the first time because female comedians tend to talk more about the husband/boyfriend’s family, singlehood, pms and sex, but they totally understood..
i think the husband’s family is overreacting a little bit. The woman is very funny!
Now it’s a suit between a Beverly Hills attorney’s wife, and a Jewish grandmother who can no longer see her babooshka’s. Once the laweyers get involved there is no more family. This is a no win for the grand parents and no matter how much money they get or don’t get, they lost a son and grandchildren.