As a younger man I wrote only to pass on knowledge. I still print rather than use cursive because it’s easier to read, and my copy was the same way – lacking irony or metaphor, but communicating effectively.
Now I worship the well-crafted phrase. It’s not enough to get your message across. Great copy can also entertain, and I prefer humor.
On the other hand there’s no faster path to sloppy copy than Gin, but that’s another story.
I don’t bike much at all, but this piece on biking in Boston is absolutely brilliant. Not only is the Boston attitude spot on, it sets up a turn of phrase that stands at the peak of perfection: “thus alerting the wizard, who alerts the monkey”. This is the comedy I hold in highest regard, it has no need to resort to vulgarity, and is as funny as anything out there. I get the feeling Clarence has done some stand up in the past, or in his future.