Croonquist is half Swedish, half African American, and married into a Jewish family. She has a lot to talk about, but last year, some of her material went a little too far for her in-laws.
"One line is that I said that when I met my mother-in-law for the first time, I realized that Jews can't whisper, 'cause I met her, and I said, 'It's such a pleasure meeting you,' and she said, 'Have a seat, Eliot put my pocketbook away,'" Croonquist said.
Croonquist was sued by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law last April. They argued that her material was holding them up to public ridicule.
"I felt dirty, I felt sick, I felt so bad. I felt betrayed," she said.
However, she received good news on Tuesday. A judge threw out the case, saying her statements were opinions and not fact, and even what she said about her sister-in-law, the judge said, was all protected under the First Amendment.
"My sister-in-law is a Jewish broad that has this north Jersey dialect … like a cat in heat," she said.
Croonquist says the ruling is a victory for all comedians.
"Can you imagine, Rodney Dangerfield not being able to make a mother-in-law joke," she said. "I was petrified. Suppose I lost, there would be no mother-in-law jokes."
As for her routine, she says she'll continue with the in-law jokes.
