S4E8, Part 2: Radio Personality Larry Dorsey, Jr.

Storied: San Francisco

​Ed. note: As with Part 1 of Larry's episode, a reminder that we recorded under the BART tracks, so we took pauses when trains passed by overhead. We left that audio in the final edit and we hope you enjoy.

In this podcast, Larry picks up where he left off in Part 1. He talks about going to Lowell High School in The City and then Academy of Art University, where he first got to know people very unlike himself.

In his high school days, Larry had started to question things he was into as well as stereotypes of Black young men such as himself. He took some acting and movies courses at AAU and then went on to actual theater school. But Larry didn't wanna be an actor.

A chance ride one day turned out to be fortuitous. He got an in at The Punchline.

As he was coming up in comedy, as he puts it, he "disappeared from the world" to hone his craft. It was around this time that he also got an internship at KMEL.

Larry traces his activism to his time at City College. He worked with Black Lives Matter, various Black student unions around The City, fed houseless folks. He makes light of his activist work, but ties it back to his comedy. He shares stories of some of his first times on the comedy stage.

He lets us know about his 101-year plan. 2020 being 2020 threw things off a little, but thanks to his week-by-week plan, Larry was able to pivot. And he ends the podcast sharing his hopes for San Francisco to get its soul back through culture and youth and how he wants to focus on reparations.

Follow Larry on social media @larrydorseyjr

We recorded this podcast at Cayuga Park under the BART tracks in April 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather