Last Thursday night I braved the fiercely blustering wind and joined the trickle of funky-fresh San Francisco locals snaking through the industrial Dogpatch neighborhood, to land at Minnesota Street Project (MSP), a set of warehouses tucked under the 280 Freeway which houses galleries, artists studios and event spaces maintaining a stronghold on the SF gallery and contemporary art scene. Amidst the cold, industrial exterior the warm glow of a murmuring crowd gathered to sip beer and peruse the smaller galleries lining the cavernous warehouse space within the 1275 Minnesota Street gallery of MSP—while claiming spots on the fast-filling bleacher seating.

Hosts Ellison Libiran and Mcardle Hankin

The event’s hosts—story-producers and longtime friends Ellison Libiran and Mcardle Hankin—took the stage and shared a casual, kinetic vibe as they passed playful, sardonic banter and read out selections from audience-submitted responses to the night’s theme—“Don’t Just Stand There—Stories About Impossible Decisions.” The duo charmingly recalled the origin story of BackPocket , and how the curated live storytelling event series emerged from their co-hosted local radio show on Bff.fm, and seeks to bring friends and strangers alike to share and connect in the absurd, dark and humorous stories of our lives. The event delivered with stories sharing unexpected takes and poignant, personal dramas far outside the realm of cliche.

Wesaam Al-Badry’s slideshow

One highlight came from Iraqi-born visual and mixed-media artist, Wesaam Al-Badry, whose multimedia video piece, It Smelled Like Sweet Green Apples, led the audience through a series of images of grainy, ’90s disposable camera images overlaid with thick, colorful graphic doodles in the artist’s signature hand. In it, Al-Badry narrates the story of his childhood growing up in a refugee camp as one of thousands of Iraqi citizens displaced after the Iraqi uprisings of the early 1990s, serving a powerful reminder to the viewer of the resilience and adaptability of children, even to the most inhumane conditions. Another tender story from April Dembosky, health reporter for KQED, hauntingly incorporated the use of audio recordings to share an intimate encounter with the darkest possibilities of untreated mental illness and left the crowd with deep, moral ambiguities to chew on.

Jeff Greenwald

Perhaps the most triumphant story of the night, bringing audible gasps from the crowd, came from esteemed Oakland-based journalist and nonfiction author Jeff Greenwald who told a wild, twisting tale of a beloved hippie cousin who disappeared—only to reappear married and on the lam from the law with one of the FBI’s Most Wanted. We hung around after the show, sharing reflections and trying to grab one last beer before the MSP staff had to politely kick us out.

A Thursday evening buzzing with multimedia arts, humor and a community hankering to embrace the true diversity of experiences and stories of our community left us feeling we had stumbled upon one of SF’s hidden wonders.

For more info on BackPocket: www.backpocket.media