Comedy

Onstage or Online, Mocking the Absurd

Joe Mande at Highline Ballroom

Mr. Mande is a stand-up comedian who has written for “Kroll Show” and “Parks and Recreation” and has appeared on “Modern Family” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” but he is perhaps most famous for his internet persona: He once tried to purchase one million Twitter followers, and he often uses his feed to highlight the absurdity of corporate social-media accounts. At two shows on Jan. 4, he will record his first hourlong special, which is being billed as “one of the most important nights in stand-up comedy history.” ELISE CZAJKOWSKI

See who else is making New Yorkers laugh this week.

Museums & Galleries

A Decisive Break With the Academy

‘Fragonard: Drawing Triumphant — Works From New York Collections’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Among the 18th century’s lesser-known declarations of independence was that of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the Rococo artist who was a rising star of the French Academy system when he decided, rather abruptly, that he’d had enough of it. This rebellion took place largely on paper, in sprightly strokes of red chalk and splashes of brown wash that were, in form and spirit, the opposite of the history paintings he had been trained to produce. As a tale of an artist’s betting on this robust private market, the Met’s show of Fragonard’s drawings, on view through Jan. 8, evokes today’s collector-focused art world. But there are many more compelling reasons to see it, including some truly masterly works on paper and a more holistic, down-to-earth look at an artist best known for his whimsically erotic, decidedly upper-class cabinet paintings. KAREN ROSENBERG

And There’s More

What to cook this weekend and what to read this week.