Comic tells one too many mother-in-law jokes, gets sued by MIL

Stand-up comic Sunda Croonquist, who is half Swedish and half black, has spent years climbing up the comedy circuit by mining her fractured family tree for laughs. Her humorless mother-in-law, though, has decided to jump into the act and fulfill her comedy stereotype in an unexpected way: She's suing for defamation.

In a case that goes before the U.S. District Court in New Jersey on Sept. 8, Ruth Zafrin is suing her son's wife for "false, defamatory, and racist" gags about her. Croonquist's sister- and brother-in-law joined the suit, too, which was filed in April and seeks damages.