Sunda Croonquist:
Comedic Imitations as Inclusion
Exhibit by Francesca Bernhardt and Natalie Son
Introduction
From the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jewish comedy began to persist in the United States as American humor was introduced. Their skits consisted of making fun of themselves in both a self-deprecatory and self-aware way (Zinoman). For our project about language in Jewish comedy, we interviewed an American Jewish comedian named Sunda Croonquist to examine how language is used in comedy and to raise awareness about the diversity of Jewish languages. Sunda Croonquist grew up in Patterson, New Jersey, with English as her first language. Her birth father was a Swedish man whose mother was a German Jew, her mother was African-American, and her stepfather was Italian. From kindergarten to college, she attended Catholic school, where her priest encouraged her to see a rabbi. Before meeting her Jewish husband, Sunda Croonquist converted to Judaism for spiritual reasons. She believes Judaism is a beautiful religion. While dating her husband, Yiddish words became a stronger part of her vocabulary, especially in New York. She also took Hebrew lessons and can say religious prayers that bring all Jews together. Her children are fluent or almost fluent in Hebrew. In Los Angeles, Croonquist started the LA School of Comedy, where she teaches and has open mic nights. Sunda Croonquist wants to use her comedy to make people laugh and feel included. Through her comedy school, she hopes to give people the therapy they need to use comedy to relieve some of the pressure or pain they are going through. To demonstrate how a Jewish audience might respond to Sunda Crooquist, we interviewed an Israeli-Jewish American named Anna Katz (pseudonym). Although Anna is a fan of Jewish comedy, she felt Croonquist was making fun of Jewish people as outsiders rather than embracing them.
Sunda Croonquist's Mother-in-Law Skit
Analysis of video
In Sunda Croonquist’s stand-up comedy show at the Stand-Up NY Comedy Club, she performed her famous “Mother-in-law skit.” She begins to talk about her first encounter with her mother-in-law: “I’m a black woman with a Jewish mother-in-law.” She insinuates from the start that this is a problem. Croonquist explains an anecdote in which she first got her sonogram results. She impersonates her mother-in-law, with a heavy New York Jewish English accent, saying, “What I’d like to know is what you plan on naming that little chachka.” “Chachka,” in this case, is a Yiddish loanword referring to an attractive woman. Croonquist impersonates her mother-in-law, saying, “Now I realize there’s a difference in the background with African-American, colored, black, whatever you people call yourselves these days. Seriously, I just don’t want a name that’s difficult to pronounce, like Shaniqua.” In these first few sentences, the audience can grasp a very bold statement that Croonquist is making about her mother-in-law: that she views Croonquist as a racial “other.” Croonquist further impersonates her mother-in-law in choosing names for the baby by saying, “In my mind, I’m thinking of a name that’s short but delicious, like Hadassah or Goldie.” Croonquist pronounces the “H” in “Hadassah” as “Ch.” This is known as a hypercorrection. It is unlikely that the mother-in-law would use this sound, as this name begins with the Hebrew letter hey, not chet. This displays Croonquist (as a newcomer to the community) misunderstanding this sound and assuming it’s “ch” because there are so many “ch” sounds in Jewish English. It is also possible that she is intentionally exaggerating her mother-in-law’s speech to use more “ch” sounds than she really would as a parodic device. In Croonquist's routine, she responds to her mother-in-law's suggestions, “You don’t have to be a Jew to know that those are some jacked up names to give to a black kid.” It becomes evident here that despite Croonquist and her mother-in-law being Jewish, there are cultural differences, and Croonquist highlights these differences for comedic effect. Based on the audience's audible laughter, it is clear they are enjoying it.
Croonquist then continues to explain another anecdote in which she met her mother-in-law for the first time. On Passover, as Croonquist and her husband drive to see the mother-in-law, Croonquist’s husband says, “Look, we are not gonna tell my mother you are black.” Despite this being quite humorous, it already introduces Croonquist’s mother-in-law as having prejudice. As predicted, Croonquist’s mother-in-law obviously noticed Croonquist is black, to which Croonquist jokes to her audience, “That’s when I noticed that Jews can’t whisper.” Interestingly, Croonquist speaks about Jews as though she is not one herself - as though she is an outsider to the community. She may be doing this because although her father was a Swedish Jew, she was not raised Jewish. Croonquist realizes that “Jews can’t whisper” when the first thing her mother-in-law says is, “Put my pocketbook [purse] away.” This insinuates that Croonquist’s mother-in-law believes the false stereotype that all black people are thieves. Finally, upon meeting Croonquist’s sister-in-law, Croonquist was able to solidify her reservations about her in-laws. She begins by saying that her sister-in-law has the typical “North Jersey Jewish accent” that sounds like a cat at the end of every sentence. After impersonating her sister-in-law, Croonquist explains how she hears her say, “Oh my god look at her, she’s got light eyes and light hair. What kind of black person is she?” Croonquist finalizes this skit by saying, “I can hear all white people.” It becomes clear throughout this skit that Croonquist believes her in-laws were/are racist and have had minimal encounters with black people. As a result, it is possible that Croonquist’s audience sees this and creates their own bias about Jews being racist altogether. This becomes even more interesting because Croonquist is Jewish, yet still sees herself as different because she is black, thus taking an “outsider” role during her skit regarding her Jewish family.
Analyzing Croonquist’s language, it is essential to highlight the differences between herself and her Jewish relatives. When Croonquist imitates her in-laws, her phonology changes. First, her voice changes to a higher pitch – possibly because her female in-laws have higher voices or because she believes that Jews speak at a higher pitch. As mentioned before, when imitating her mother-in-law, Croonquist indicates that Jews use “ch” commonly. When pronouncing the “h” at the beginning of words like “Hadassah,” Croonquist uses the back of her throat. This is a distinctive feature of Jewish English speakers that Croonquist is highlighting. In addition, when Cronquist imitates her mother-in-law, she elongates certain syllables that are not elongated in mainstream English. This is, once again, part of the Jewish English ethnolinguistic repertoire in which Jewish English speakers display different speech patterns that are unlike mainstream English. Furthermore, when Croonquist imitates her in-laws, she utilizes post-vocalic r-deletion. This is distinct to the American Jewish accent, but it is also synonymous with a “typical” New York accent. Since Croonquist and her husband both grew up in New Jersey, it is understandable that they have this feature in their speech and that Croonquist finds that the two accents relate to each other based on who she grew up around. Croonquist also imitates her in-laws using a specific intonation that is part of the American Jewish English repertoire. This can be noticed by the regular alternations in high and low pitches when Croonquist imitates her mother-in-law. It is also possible that Croonquist exaggerates these switches to allow her non-Jewish audience to notice the feature. Finally, Croonquist also changes her facial expressions when imitating her in-laws. She opens her eyes wide, shows all her teeth, and blinks numerously and strongly. Although this is for comedic effect, Crooqnuist's performance suggests to the audience that this is a typical feature that Jews have when they speak. The combination of phonology, intonation, and face/mouth expressions allow Crooqnuist to display the Jewish English language to her audience in a comedic manner.
Analysis of comments
While reading the comments about Sunda Croonquist's stand-up act about her mother-in-law at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club, we noticed various opinions regarding whether her comedy was acceptable in this situation. Some people viewed her act negatively and did not think it was funny or acceptable. One user wrote, "I would sue her too. She's terrible. Like supernaturally terrible, the mom-in-law doesn't want to be associated with a hack comedian." Another user said, "Why doesn't she make jokes about her own mother instead of the mother-in-law? Even better, tell jokes at her own expense. It is disrespectful to badmouthing of elderly people, and her mother-in-law doesn't deserve to be a punch bag." In these comments, we noticed how some people did not think it was acceptable to make jokes about her mother-in-law, especially as she is more senior. Additionally, Judaism values elders and believes they should be treated with respect, which could explain the user's opinion (Sedley).
On the other hand, there were a lot of positive comments regarding Croonquist and what she said. One user wrote, "She is hilarious! Love how she mixes her two cultures." Another user said, "I'm Jewish (Sephardic) and I found her act hilarious...If you're oh-so "liberal" try learning about Jewish culture. Like the fact that Jewish mothers have been hating their daughters-in-law for thousands of years. It's one of the cornerstones of Jewish culture." This user positions themself as an insider, specifically a Sephardic Jew, and could see Croonquist's mother-in-law as an outsider because she is (likely) Jewish Ashkenazic. Despite the shared identification as Jewish, the insider-outsider status indicates how different categories of Judaism or Jewishness create individual identities and opinions due to culture and background. Moreover, a comment in the middle said, "She has a very funny delivery, and I laughed at some of her "shtick," however, if I was her mother-in-law (or sister-in-law) I would be hurt by her routine if it was not something that was agreed-upon beforehand. It's obvious she doesn't like her husband's family." Although this user refers to her delivery, they do not talk about the accent she used.
Altogether, looking at a range of comments is necessary to understand the audience and their views on the comedy and the comedian. These differing opinions demonstrate our society's diversity regarding humor, morals, backgrounds, and more. While these comments were quick to either support Croonquist or critique how she talked about her mother-in-law, there is a lack of opinion regarding her language. This gap indicates how most of her viewers may be unable to distinguish what specific accents she uses or identify her use of Yiddish loanwords in her comedy. Her audience is broader than just the Jewish community, and even those within the community may not be familiar with the linguistic features she imitates. From these few comments, we learned how comedy could create valuable discussions in which everyone can participate.
Sex with an Israeli Skit (46:15 - 47:24)
Analysis of video
In this skit that Croonquist did at her show at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, she discusses what it is like to have intercourse with a Jew. She begins the skit by saying that her husband is a "hairy Jew." It is important to note that Jews are stereotypically known as being hairy (though this is untrue), so by prefacing that her husband is a "hairy Jew," it becomes clear that she is aware of the stereotype and uses this to her comedic advantage. The audience can understand that her husband is not just relatively hairy (since the stereotype intends to say that all Jews are) but is even hairier than the average. While Croonquist is most likely exaggerating for comedic value, she uses this joke in a manner in which she "makes little" of the stereotype and uses comedy to overcome the daily judgments non-Jews have about Jews. She then goes on to explain how she choked on one of her husband's hairs and compared the noise she made to how Jews sound. Jews use both "h" and "kh" (also spelled "h" and "ch"). The "kh" sound found in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Jewish English is made in the throat and sounds like someone is clearing their throat. Her use of this sound was funny to people who recognize that many Jews use this sound.
Adding further to the skit, Croonquist encourages the audience to have sex with an Israeli “once in your life” because “they tell you things you’ve never heard before.” In this regard, she is referring to how Israelis talk. However, by telling the audience that these are words they have “never heard before,” the loanwords seem to be more rarely used across the country and perhaps more specifically within the Israeli community alone. The first loanword she uses is “prutza.” This is what the Israeli man has called her during intercourse, and it means “prostitute.” Interestingly, Hebrew-speaking audiences would find this even funnier due to the man’s demeaning language. However, in our interview with Croonquist, she mentions that her audience is not solely Jewish. Therefore, although the audience can be heard laughing in the background during this part of the skit, they most likely are unaware of the meaning of this term. Instead, they might be laughing because of the accent she imitates.
Finally, Croonquist imitates the Israeli man saying, “It is so hot in here, but uh, in my van I have air conditioner I can sell you special price.” She does three things to imitate a stereotypical Israeli: phonology, syntax, and lifestyle. She uses English words with distinctively Israeli vowels and consonants, and she uses a broken sentence structure that lacks correct grammar. It exhibits the stereotypical sentence structure of Israelis and immigrants in general, allowing the audience to relate and find humor in the scenario. Croonquist also hints at a significant stereotype about Israelis: they are more likely to use shady practices to get what they want and are not as honest as other business people. This is a common attitude Americans have towards Jews, and it seems as though Croonquist is aware of that and uses comedy to perpetuate those antisemitic jokes made about Jews. Additionally, it is clear that a combination of this, and the fact that it is unlikely that the Israeli man said this during intercourse, adds another level of comedic value. Overall, Croonquist uses various comedic tools in this skit to make the audience laugh, portray a funny scenario between her and the Israeli man, and use American Jewish stereotypes to make light of the negative experiences many Jews have had.
Analysis of comments
The clips of Sunda Croonquist’s shows and skits on YouTube, in addition to the comments about them, need to be examined to understand her viewers’ language ideologies. To get a sense of the “full picture,” comments had to be taken from multiple of Croonquist’s clips. The first comment was made by Avi Ebriani, saying, “Sunda, Thank you for making sure people are always smiling & happy. You have always been so kind & generous . Wishing you all the best.” It is clear that Ebriani enjoys Croonquist’s work and speaks for the general audience by saying that “people are always smiling and happy.” He truly believes Croonquist uses comedy to the best of her ability to make her audience laugh. Based on the commenter’s name, it can be assumed that he is Jewish. As a result, his opinion is taken more seriously since Croonquist makes jokes about his community. However, the next commenter, Jesus Arreguin, is likely not Jewish based on his name. He comments that Croonquist’s show was “hilarious.” (That's Jacked Up! - Sunda Croonquist Stand Up Comedy). It is evident that her audience of all backgrounds finds humor in her jokes – even jokes that can be considered controversial. Finally, regarding Croonquist’s imitation of Jewish Americans, it is crucial to understand whether her audience finds the accents funny and accurate. Based on the following comment, “I’m jewish and I find that hilarious!!!!!! I would love to have her as a daughter in law”, Croonquist is being applauded for her imitations (Sunda). This may point at her viewers’ language ideologies – that Israelis do speak with the accent Croonquist used in her skit. According to these comments, it becomes clear that viewers believe that accent imitations should be done and are funny. However, it is still important to note that although Croonquist is Jewish, she is not Israeli. Therefore, she is imitating the accent of a community she is not part of. As a result, Israelis may not always enjoy her imitation of the Israeli community.
Respondent interview
To understand the effects that Sunda Croonquist may have on her Jewish audience, we interviewed a Jewish American. Her name is Anna Katz (pseudonym), and she was born and raised in Orange County. She states that both of her parents’ families are Israeli, and her dad moved to Israel when he was 16. Her parents then immigrated to the US before Anna was born. As a result of her Israeli background, Anna’s first language was Hebrew, and she still speaks it fluently. Anna continues to report that she has a very strong connection to Israeli culture and Judaism. While Anna tends to watch Jewish comedians, she was not a fan of Sunda Croonquist. She felt Croonquist was “making fun of Jewish people” and that rather than embracing Jews,” she was only pointing out the negatives.” However, after informing Anna that Croonquist is Jewish, she still feels that the way Croonquist presents her jokes seems as though “she is an outsider making fun of Jewish people.” Furthermore, regarding Croonquist’s Israeli routine, Anna thought Croonquist was making fun of the way Israelis talk. She also felt it would have been more acceptable if Croonquist spoke Hebrew herself. Still, Anna states that she “did not like watching it” and that Croonquist “made fun of everything I’m proud of.”
Regarding Croonquist's mother-in-law suing her, she believes that "suing was a lot," but it was right for the mother-in-law to stand up to Croonquist. Anna goes as far as to say that if she were the husband, she "would divorce her [Sunda Croonquist] right away." When it comes to imitating accents, Anna believes it is ok to imitate an accent when the comedian's intent is not harmful and when the comedian is part of that culture or religion. In addition, Anna states that Croonquist making fun of her husband is a dinner conversation rather than broadcasting it in front of an audience because it allows non-Jews to gain negative opinions toward Jews. Interestingly, Anna continues to say that she feels as though her Jewish friends would also feel attacked by Croonquist's jokes because although Croonquist is Jewish, she does not make it clear to the audience she is in that particular routine. As an offer of feedback, Anna encourages Croonquist to bring her husband or mother-in-law on stage and shed a more positive light on the Jewish community, such as being "really funny and really good at cooking food."
Comedian interview
To examine how language is used in comedy and to raise awareness about the wide variety of Jewish languages, we interviewed Sunda Croonquist. Croonquist has appeared as an actress in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Cure for Boredom, and Strong Medicine. However, for our project, we focused on her as a stand-up comedian. She was born to an African-American mother and a Swedish father, who was a musician. Despite not being raised Jewish, Sunda Croonquist found Judaism and converted for spiritual reasons. As a result, she picked up some Yiddish words while living in New York and took Hebrew lessons. For our interview, we concentrated on asking questions regarding the Jewish content in her stand-up acts. In her skits, she utilizes a lot of Yiddish and Hebrew loanwords and accents. When introducing Jewish culture prevalent in her life, she used the Yiddish word “khaleshing” (fainting). However, she pronounced the word with “h” instead of “kh,” which is opposite in the skit of her mother saying “Hadassah,” where she pronounced “kh” instead of the “h.” This also relates to Croonquist using the throat clearing sound in the sex skit because both instances demonstrate what she thinks applies to all Jews versus what is correct. Despite these discrepancies, Croonquist explains to us how her acts are often over-exaggerated to provide more entertainment to her audience.
The first question we asked was if she believed it was necessary in comedy to use accents. She responded, “Absolutely not, if you can’t pull it off. If you can pull it off, you are showing a performing art. Comedy is a performing art.” For Croonquist, comedy has the power to make people laugh. She believes that not making fun of people or leaving certain groups out of the conversation means excluding them. For instance, in her skit with the Israeli man, she wasn’t imitating him to make Israelis look bad but rather making light of stereotypes surrounding them through a comedic lens. However, Croonquist believes that using a flawed and inaccurate accent without love is insulting to the imitated group, which she doesn’t think she does. Altogether, Croonquist intends for her imitations of other groups of people to be inclusive by raising awareness about these groups to the broader population and demonstrating why these stereotypes can be silly. Despite this approach, Anna is not a fan of Croonquist’s comedy because Croonquist does not make it clear that she is Jewish and trying to be inclusive of the Jewish community and, instead, places herself as an outsider to the community.
Next, we asked at what point comedy or using accents becomes offensive. Croonquist believes that people saying things that reflect a time when there were no filters or sense of morality is when it crosses the line. She lists examples such as stereotypes of Chinese having big teeth and African-Americans having big eyes. She understands what it feels like to be different and judged based on who she is. In turn, Croonquist wishes to make fun of each other without hate instead of trying to be mean. This idea reflects most of the YouTube commenters who had a positive outlook on her comedy. Many applauded how well she did her imitations and appreciated how she uses her abilities to make her audience laugh. In the interview, she also talked about how Korean people she has imitated love when she uses Korean words. Praise like this might direct her to feel that all groups are happy with her representation of their distinctive language. But, in reality, people like Anna still do not appreciate her accents because they feel offensive instead of inclusive to the community.
Later in the interview, we questioned if she used comedy as a medium for relief. Although she does find relief in it, Croonquist wants her comedy to reach other people and help them through hard times. She believes that comedy can help make light of challenging situations by reducing stress or pain at the moment. During the pandemic, she saw how much kids suffered, such as being unable to express themselves, and decided to keep her comedy school open so that people could get the therapy they needed. In addition, she believes comedy can reduce the recidivism rate regarding repeating crimes at younger ages by providing kids with a different means for letting off steam.
Lastly, we turned to her stand-up performances at the Laugh Factory and Stand-Up NY Comedy Club. At the Stand-Up NY Comedy Club, she performed her stand-up act about her mother-in-law. In a turn of events, Croonquist gained attention in the media when her mother-in-law filed a lawsuit against her for spreading defamatory and racist lies about their family. Although the court tossed the suit out, Croonquist made it clear that she did not use the situation as a publicity stunt and does not want to be remembered for the lawsuit. To be recognized for being sued is one of the saddest things that has happened to her. Instead, she wants her audience to focus on what she has accomplished in the past and on the comedy that she loves doing. To gain more insight into the situation, we asked if imitating her mother-in-law went too far. In response, she said absolutely not because she did not have mean intentions. In addition, she even filtered what was said or didn’t go full out because she could have described even more of the harsh treatment she experienced. In her words, she stated, “Everyone else can make fun of their mother-in-law, but I get sued.” Croonquist speaks to the brutal reality of being put in the spotlight as people critique everything she does when they might even do it themselves. Despite the painful times, Croonquist loved her mother-in-law and was on good terms with her when she passed away. She even dedicated her cookbook, Kosher Soul Food, to her. Regarding her skit at the Laugh Factory about intercourse with an Israeli Jew, we asked if all Jews use the “h” or “kh” distinction and whether the act was an exaggeration. In response, she said absolutely not and that the skit was an exaggeration, further demonstrating how her comedy is not meant to be taken seriously but more to make people laugh and have an enjoyable time. Furthermore, one of the last questions we asked was if she has gotten backlash from anyone else besides her mother-in-law. She said yes, as she has dealt with old Jews who have screamed and thrown walkers at her because of what she said about her mother-in-law. Overall, Sunda Croonquist is not a comedian hoping to use publicity stunts for attention but a strong African-American Jewish woman who wants to be remembered for all her accomplishments despite the difficult times she’s experienced.
Sunda Croonquist and Jewish Languages
Sunda Croonquist: I think it is so wonderful that you guys are exploring the world of Jewish language, or the lingo, all that was used during so many different times, politically and socially. Just to give you a zinger. Just to say I had a schlep. My God, I am khaleshing. Khaleshing for a bagel. All of these things, or language verbiage, that has been invented by Jews still stays here today because a lot of people don’t even know what they are saying. They’ll say just have it with a schmear. Right away, the deli guy knows, even if he doesn’t speak English or Yiddish, what a schmear is. A schmear is going to be a little bit of cream cheese. It is important to know those that have used so many terms in Yiddish. I wouldn’t say Jewish language but more towards Yiddish. But yes, it is still Jewish.
Interviewer: To start off the interview, we would like to know a little bit about you. Where were you born? What languages did you speak growing up?
Croonquist: Growing up, English was my first language. I grew up in Patterson, New Jersey. My birth father was Swedish, but the man that raised me was Italian, so I speak a dialect of Italian, or some Spanish. I kind of mixed them up because they are so similar. Yiddish became a stronger part of my vocabulary when I started dating my husband. My God, if you have to make a schlep, you know what a schlep is. If you didn’t, you learned.
Interviewer: You said you went to Catholic school, is that right?
Croonquist: Yes, I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to college.
Interviewer: How did your beliefs change?
Croonquist: You know, I was encouraged to see a rabbi by my priest. He suggested that I see him. There was no one to convert you or no one to encourage you. Nobody in Judaism says come be a Jew. They are not pulling you in. If anything, they think you have a boyfriend, or you are looking for a Jewish guy. I had a guy who was a friend and helped me convert. This one rabbi just kept going on and on about how I shouldn’t convert and that it should be for me and not for my boyfriend. But I said I had a Puerto-Rican boyfriend who has no idea what I am doing. It was for me spiritually. Also, my father’s mother was a German Jew, but it goes on the mother’s side. So, I did go to the mikvah. Do you know what the mikvah is?
Interviewer: No, we are not familiar with the term.
Croonquist: You know Christians get baptized. So, there is this ritual and Jews go to the mikvah. The real Orthodox go once a month. We used to do a parody from Amy Winehouse [sings the parody…]. It was a parody that we had done on Jewish live television. Her father reached out and said how beautiful and how much she would have enjoyed seeing a parody that reflects her Judaism in song.
Interviewer: Moving forward, you use a lot of accents in your skits (Puerto-Rican, Hungarian, Jewish English), do you believe it is necessary in comedy to use them?
Sunda Croonquist and her Opinion on Imitations
Croonquist: Absolutely not, if you can’t pull it off. If you can pull it off, you are showing them a performing art. Comedy is exactly what I’ve been saying it is - a performing art. If you have the ability to make people laugh, do it. When you stop making fun of people, you are excluding them. Not making fun of them but including them. Not everyone should do it. If you do a very bad accent without love, don’t do it because it is insulting.
Interviewer: At what point does it become offensive?
Croonquist: I think it becomes offensive when you do things that are reflective of a time where no one filtered and said that’s not funny. Don’t put in those teeth to make him look Chinese. What makes you think that all Chinese people have big teeth? I have big teeth. What makes you think that all black people have open and big eyes? When it starts coming back to that, it’s a bad place because I want to laugh. People say to me all the time, do you say “coffee” [New York Accent]? And I’m like why. They’ll make fun of me and I know what that feels like to be made fun of. You can’t say it to be mean like that, but you gotta have some funny in it.
Croonquist: When I do my jokes about Koreans and say “Unnie, Unnie,” they love me. Sunja is also a Korean name. They love it and enjoy the fact that we can make fun of each other and not just stop at one race.
Interviewer: Do you personally speak a Jewish language or Yiddish, or is it just loanwords?
Croonquist: No, I would say I lowkey picked up Yiddish years ago just from being in New York. I also started taking Hebrew lessons. My kids speak Hebrew. My daughter speaks fluent Hebrew. My other daughter just learned and sang Israel’s national anthem. They speak Hebrew. But of course, I can say the Shma. I can say these prayers that bring all Jews together. As opposed to being a Jew, where you are going to hear the same thing in every service [starts singing…]. It’s so beautiful. Judaism is a beautiful beautiful religion. I know it changed me spiritually. My husband did not want to date a Jewish girl. He thought I was a Puerto Rican. How funny is that? And he was like I’ll never date another Jewish woman. I was like I don’t know what to tell him.
Interviewer: About that skit, we were wondering when imitating your mother-in-law whether you thought it was going too far?
Croonquist: Absolutely not. I’m going to go right to it, it had nothing to do with the case. And that’s really where it all started from with this lawsuit. My mother-in-law, I have on video on stage getting a standing ovation at the Laugh Factory. I loved my mother-in-law. I’m sorry that the wrong thing got out. It was bad. I wasn’t doing it to be mean. When you look at the comedy, it is not like I go all out. I suffered through so much of this. What you do with the pain is that you try to make light of it, so you don’t deal with it.
Interviewer: Do you use comedy as a medium for relief?
Croonquist: Well, not so much about myself, but also to help other people. Right now, I am focused on seeing how kids have suffered during the pandemic and before that. They have nowhere to express themselves and they get called into juvie because they are bad. Because they talk in class. They want to be heard and paid attention to. They have broken families and families that are in prison. I can prove that we can reduce the recidivism rate with kids if you give them comedy. If anything comes out of this interview, I want to keep the LA School of Comedy open so that people can still get the therapy they need that helps them. Without comedy clubs, believe me, the mental institutions would be overthrown and there would not be enough room. So if you go into a comedy club and you think the comedian is going to be racist and you are ready to throw tomatoes, then stay home. If anybody is getting ready to attack me, then I am going to bring every part of me that I’ve insulted all through the night and I am gonna scratch you and kick you. I will bring out the best of Sunda.
Interviewer: What is your typical audience? What do they look like?
Croonquist: That depends. I have a lot of young kids because of my daughter. I have different acts. I have rated G, PG, R, and then you get you know… crazy. It’s a real mix. But, you can book me because I am a clean comedian.
Interviewer: Separating the in-laws, have you gotten backlash from anyone else?
Croonquist: My God, there was a bunch of old Jews screaming at me. They were screaming and throwing their walkers at me. They were telling me how terrible I am for what I did to my mother-in-law. Never thinking about what I went through. Listen, no one would’ve known anything about what I said, but they sued me. Now, people know who they are. If they didn’t want to be associated with someone with my sun tan, well they know they got one in the family now. I felt it the strongest. It really was a terrible thing that I went through and never talk about. To be remembered as a comedian sued by her mother-in-law and to think it was a publicity stunt was one of the saddest things that happened to me.
Interviewer: Would you say that most Jewish Americans you meet have that distinction in their voice like the Israeli man in your skit?
Croonquist: Absolutely not. There’s no way. Jews out here, they are only Jewish for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. When you go to Israel, they are not the most religious either. But, it is wonderful. Israel is beautiful.
Interviewer: Have you ever performed in Israel?
Croonquist: No. In fact, I was c-blocked there. I will tell you why. They said that my act wasn’t clean. There was one gentleman that kept blocking me. That’s sad because I’ve always wanted to perform there and get paid because I have a lot to say.
Interviewer: Is the audience in Israel a lot less sensitive than the audience in the US?
Croonquist: Yes. I am the host of the Israel Film Festival. You’ll catch some stuff of me.
Croonquist: Just to wrap things up, there is a lot of information out there. There is the Yiddish dictionary. It is a comedy piece. There are books out there. Just explore and enjoy it. If you have any questions, you can follow me on @sundalive and buy my cookbook Kosher Soul Food. Thank you. I am really honored to be a part of this project.
Implications
Through this project, we gained a greater understanding of trends in contemporary Jewish language, language ideologies, and language contact phenomena through the insight of an American Jewish comedian and an Israeli-American Jewish person. In the article “Is it Funny for the Jews,” Jason Zinoman, regarding the impact of past struggles for Jewish people, comments, “There is a long, rich Jewish tradition of grappling with antisemitism by laughing at it. This has produced a vast amount of great comedy” (Zinoman 2022). The Jewish tradition of dealing with antisemitism through comedy reflects Sunda Croonquist’s argument that we can use humor to make light of situations that bring people pain, helping them to feel better or even forget about it for at least a moment. Moreover, language contact phenomena have played a crucial role in Jewish communities, especially in the nineteenth century, as some Jews were forced to migrate from their homelands to new areas across the globe. Upon their arrival to the United States, these Jewish immigrants brought Yiddish culture into the American community as it allowed them to express their hope for a new life and passion for their homelands. As a result, they incorporated Yiddish words when speaking English, such as chachka and the name Goldie, some of which spread to the American Jewish English lexicon and the English of the broader American population (Frank 2021). In addition, Jewish immigrants maintained Hebrew sacred texts for religious purposes and because it represents the Jewish people’s historical, cultural, and social heritage (Embassy). In Language Contact, Yaron Matras writes, “Contact-induced language change begins with the use of items from another language in conversation by people who are either bilingual or have at least some exposure to another language” (Matras 2009). Although Crooquist was born in the United States, she experienced some language contact while living in New York. For example, when interacting with other Jews in the community, she could pick up some of the Yiddish loanwords from their English Jewish speech and apply them to her own comedy. Although we do not know if Croonquist utilizes Yiddish words in her daily speech and not just during her imitations, this situation still brings attention to a significant trend. This trend is that groups or individuals that migrate or move to new areas can experience language contact while immersed in a new language or culture, causing them to pick it up. When surrounded by people speaking a particular language or way, it is difficult to keep one’s original language pure and not be impacted by others, as seen with many members of the Jewish community who shifted to new languages after migrations.
In Sunda Croonquist’s skits, which attempt to comedically depict anecdotal moments with her husband, his family, and the Israeli man, she displays numerous trends in contemporary Jewish language. Firstly, Croonquist makes it clear that Jewish Americans use Yiddish and Hebrew loanwords in their speech and shows this when imitating an Israeli man and in-laws. In fact, during the interview, Cronquist says that she herself utilizes Yiddish loanwords. The terms used, such as “prutza,” are known as “Core forms,” which are a semantic type of loanwords. These encompass words that have equivalents in the matrix language (English). Since the Israeli man can be assumed to be bilingual, using these terms is code-switching for him. However, since Croonquist is a monolingual English speaker, she adopts these loanwords into her English due to the community surrounding her (Matras 2009).
In addition, the utilization of loanwords indicates migration patterns that have taken place within the Jewish community. Though we are not told by Croonquist the migratory backgrounds of her in-laws, we can assume that they are likely children of immigrants. This can be deduced from Croonquist’s language, which references an element of the distinctive ethnolinguistic repertoire of a Jewish American family (her in-laws). In this particular skit, the most significant phonological difference she makes from her way of speaking to the Jewish English repertoire is how the “h” is pronounced at the beginning of a word. In mainstream English, the “h” is pronounced by blowing air from the back of the mouth. However, Croonquist notes that her husband pronounces the “h” by blowing air strongly from the back of the throat, providing contact between the walls of the throat to make a harsher sound. This phonological distinction, along with various other features that are better understood when watching the video, cannot be used to generalize all Jewish Americans. As Croonquist says in a skit, her in-laws are Romanian Jews, thus, have an accent that may differ from other Jewish communities (Benor 2022).
Furthermore, Croonquist also “pokes fun” at the syntax of Israelis speaking English with influence from their native Hebrew. In the same skit regarding intercourse with an Israeli man, she imitates him, saying, “It is so hot in here, but uh, in my van I have air conditioner I can sell you special price.” Whether or not this is true, it displays a sentence in English that is grammatically incorrect. It lacks articles in front of the nouns, which is very common for new English speakers. However, if this sentence was “made up,” then it creates a language ideology in which Israelis/Jews that speak broken English are hagglers. Though our interview with Croonquist did not confirm nor deny this fact, it is interesting to interpret it in various ways. In fact, it is essential to note that Croonquist's skits are also a form of postvernacular engagement. This is because her audience is not majority Jewish – as she told us in the interview. Therefore, the audience does not always understand the Yiddish and Hebrew loanwords she uses. In addition, Croonquist is attempting to highlight the bilingual nature of Jewish Americans, whether Yiddish and English or Hebrew and English (Shandler). In conclusion, this in-depth analysis has given us vast knowledge and perspectives regarding comedy and various Jewish languages within the Jewish community that we wish to share with fellow learners.
Using the analyses provided above, we can deduce whether Croonquist's skits, particularly the linguistic imitations, are offensive. Concerning the Youtube comments, there is some controversy. While most viewers found Crooquist's skits entertaining and funny, some found them disrespectful. First, many Jews made it clear that they found the acts hilarious and loved them. But, most of the negative words that users stated were not about Croonquist's imitations of Jews but more so out of offense by the fact that Croonquist made fun of her elders. Therefore, based on the YouTube comments, we concluded that Croonquist did not have ill will or mean to be offensive when imitating her in-laws. In contrast, our American Jewish respondent did not find Croonquist's skits amusing. This may be because the stage performance did not provide linguistic tokens that were "authentic" to the representation of core Jewish community members. The respondent did not believe that Croonquist was Jewish because Croonquist engaged in racial crossing practices without symbolically crossing racial boundaries herself. By imitating her in-laws, Croonquist was able to decontextualize and deconstruct racializing discourses about Jews. However, because Croonquist's skits involve "inauthentic" comedic language practices that are highly performative, Croonquist is not likely to be a "typical" member of the Jewish community. As a result, her skits can easily offend members of the community that are specifically mentioned, such as Israeli Jews. Furthermore, according to Elaine Chun, there is a "line" that defines what can be offensive. Chun explains that imitating stereotypical features - when done wrong or maliciously - can be harmful, in contrast to realistic impersonations that are comedic (Chun). Altogether, after analyzing our interviews with Sunda Croonquist and Anna Katz and Croonquist's skits and comments on them, we can conclude that Croonquist provides a realistic imitation of Israelis and the Jewish community, making it acceptable for the majority. Although her comedic skits are often exaggerated, controversy is inevitable in comedy, especially as audiences are so diverse in age and background.
Bibliography
Benor, Sarah Bunin. 2022. “Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshootspa: Non-Jews’ Use of Jewish Language in the United States.” American Jewish Year Book 2020. Ed., Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. 3-69.
Chun, Elaine W. 2004. “Ideologies of Legitimate Mockery: Margaret Cho’s Revoicings of Mock Asian.” Pragmatics 14(2-3).
Embassy. “Jewish Sacred Texts.” Embassies.gov.il, Embassy Of Israel In The Netherlands, https://embassies.gov.il/hague-en/aboutisrael/people/Pages/Jewish-Sacred-Texts.aspx#:~:text=%E2%80%8BThe%20importance%20of%20Judaism's,heritage%20of%20the%20Jewish%20people.
Frank, Drew Brian. “History of Yiddish in American English.” Department of Linguistics, University of Colorado Boulder, 6 May 2021, https://www.colorado.edu/linguistics/2021/05/05/history-yiddish-american-english.
Kustanowitz, Al. “Comic Sued by Mother-in-Law to Perform Sunday in Hackensack.” Comic Sued by Mother-in-Law to Perform Sunday in Hackensack, Jewish Humor Central , 29 Oct. 2009,http://www.jewishhumorcentral.com/2009/10/comic-sued-by-mother-in-law-to-perform.html.
Kustanowitz, Al. “Jewish Black Comedian Victorious in Mother-in-Law Suit.” Jewish Black Comedian Victorious in Mother-in-Law Suit, Jewish Humor Central, 5 May 2010, http://www.jewishhumorcentral.com/2010/05/jewish-black-comedian-victorious-in.html.
Matras, Yaron. 2009. Language Contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Section 5.1.3 (115-119).
Sedley , Rabbi David. “Valuing Elders.” Tag Institute For Jewish Social Values , edited by Rabbi Yossi Ives , Tag Institute , 2012.
Shandler, Jeffrey. 2005. Part of “Introduction” and “Absolut Tchotchke.” In Adventures in Yiddishland: Postvernacular Language and Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1-4; 155-176.
Video lecture by Dr. Benor: “Mensch, Bentsh, and Balagan: Language as a Marker of Jewish Identity.” https://vimeo.com/411026199. 1:00-22:39.
Zinoman, Jason. “Is It Funny for the Jews?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/arts/television/comedy-jewish-identity.html.