Bob Golub has always included bits of his life in his stand-up comedy routines, but for a show he's bringing to Pittsburgh, the Sharon native will lay bare the story of his family.

Golub will stage "Dodo" for three weeks starting Aug. 30 at the Penn Avenue Theatre.

"Dodo" was the nickname of his father, Donald E. Golub Sr., who died Sept. 1, 1997, at age 66.

The elder Golub was a dominating presence, proud and sometimes abusive, whose most lasting gift to the comedian and actor might have been his humor.

Donald Sr. was a roofer, an occupation that framed the family's existence, Golub said, calling from his home in Los Angeles.

"When you grow up with eight kids you don't have a lot of money, especially in the winter," he said. "Sometimes we didn't have lunch money. They tried to give us free lunches and he wouldn't accept it."

Throughout the tough times, Donald Sr. kept a sense of humor.

"What you do is learn to find the humor in things because humor is cheap," Golub said. "My dad tried to cover pain with humor."

Golub, 43, recalled that the first time he had ever seen his father vulnerable was after an operation. But Donald Sr. kept up the tough exterior as best as he could in saying, 'If I die, tell Donnie I still want the 100 bucks he owes me."

Donnie is Donald E. Jr., a Sharon school board member.

Some of the family members have had problems with substance abuse and scrapes with the law, including Golub who served prison time for marijuana possession.

Golub acknowledged he hasn't gotten on his brothers' and sisters' good sides by doing the show.

"It's very revealing of my past," he said. "My brothers and sisters are not going to like it.

"This is a fly-on-the-wall look at my family. It's not me anymore," he said, although, for his part, Golub said the show details "me going home, reconnecting with my father."

Phil Gallo, a writer for Daily Variety, saw the show Feb. 27 in North Hollywood.

"'Dodo' overwhelms the audience with the pain at its core, leaving little room for a pang or pity or even a thought of tenderness," Gallo wrote in the April 12 issue. "There's a lot of hatred exposed, and it's done so coldly that dad's death comes as a relief -- and, for some, a delight."

Gallo said the piece is character-driven but just short of "a super work."

The review caught the eye of Laura Ziskin, a movie producer behind "Dinner With Friends," now showing on HBO, and the upcoming "Superman."

Ms. Ziskin is interested in developing the show into a network television series, with a film as a fall-back plan.

"People are responding to it who can make a difference," said Golub, the married father of two young children. "We just need a check."

In the meantime, Golub is taking "Dodo" on the road.

The work is different from his standup routines in that humor is not the goal, although the show has plenty of it. So, Golub is performing it at theaters instead of comedy clubs.

"You step from a stand-up stage to a theater stage, people look at you differently," he said.

For the North Hollywood show, the stage was decorated with a clothesline filled with T-shirts bearing the names of Golub and his siblings, an easy chair and a lectern.

Michael Moats booked the show into his Penn Avenue Theatre based on a tape Golub sent him.

"The guy's extremely charismatic," said Moats, the theater's artistic director. "The writing is so tight and the characters well-defined."

The theater seats 90, with the audience on three sides of the stage.

"The worst seat is three rows back," Moats said.

The theater is in Pittsburgh's Bloomfield section. "Dodo" will be staged at 8 p.m. Aug. 30, 31, and Sept. 6, 7, 13 and 14 and 8 and 10 p.m. Sept. 1, 8 and 15. Information: (412) 661-7366 and

www.pennavetheatre.com

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com