In Charlie Sheen's Next Act, 'Winning' Might Not Be Easy

March 30, 2011 — -- Charlie Sheen's "I'm going to rave about tiger blood and rant about Chuck Lorre and make you jealous of my goddesses" thing worked for a while. He won coverage. He coined catch phrases. He scored a million Twitter followers in just over 24 hours.

But around the middle of March, it seems a lot of people stopped listening.

His debut Web show, "Sheen's Korner," drew 1.2 million viewers, about one-tenth of the audience of his former show, "Two and a Half Men." His $100 million lawsuit against the show got punted to arbitration. An earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Elizabeth Taylor died. Sheen-mania petered out.

The headlines he scores these days aren't always in his corner. The New York Post reported Tuesday that after Sheen's October rampage at New York City's Plaza Hotel and his much ballyhooed binges, no hotel wants to host him.

Meanwhile, Sheen is battling with ex-wife Denise Richards to get custody of one of her pug dogs, even though he allegedly failed to feed the first dog she gave him, causing it to die of malnutrition. She reportedly upped the security around her home after Sheen called her "a vile kidnapper and now dog thief" on Twitter and said he wanted to "bombard" her with "Warlock Napalm."

Richards' publicist told ABCNews.com that the dog died while in Sheen's care. Sheen's publicist said "don't know" via email when asked what happened to the dog. Pressed for further comment, he replied, "Sorry, busy with the real world."

So where does Sheen go from here? On to "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option Tour," his month-long series of live engagements that kicks off Saturday in Detroit and stands as his surest chance of scoring positive press.

What remains to be seen is what exactly he's going to do when he steps on stage. His fans seem to be wondering the same thing: While initial reports claimed Sheen's Detroit show sold out on Ticketmaster in less than 20 minutes, as of Tuesday afternoon, Ticketmaster was still showing seats available for that show. There are plenty more to be had for his New York, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, Denver and Dallas stops, among others.

Thousands of purchased tickets are being resold on sites like StubHub.com for a fraction of their original cost. Tickets for the main floor of the Detroit show, originally $52, are going for as low as $8 each on StubHub.

A "Meet and Greet" ticket to see Sheen in Detroit, which includes a seat in the first 10 rows of the Fox Theater, a photograph with the self-proclaimed Warlock and autographed paraphernalia, can be had for the admittedly steep price of $575 at Ticketmaster.com.

Those participating in Sheen's tour said they weren't worried. Rob Patterson, guitarist for the band Filter, revealed to Usmagazine.com that he's been working on a soundtrack for the show that will enhance the "unadulterated, uncut, raw Charlie" fans will see. He added that Sheen's "not on drugs" and predicted the show will be "shocking, stimulating [and] hilarious."

Joey Scoleri, co-producer of "My Violent Torpedo of Truth," told ABCNews.com Tuesday that the planning process "has been going great." He also spoke last week with People magazine about the show.

"It will be spoken word, it'll be funny and there will be interaction with the audience," Scoleri said. "He's one of the most creative people I've ever met in my life. If you want Charlie Sheen, you'll get vintage Sheen with this show. The guy's a media juggernaut. He's there to entertain."

And make money. Sheen reportedly banked nearly $2 million per episode with "Two and a Half Men." Between ticket proceeds, after party endorsements and merchandising, his tour could net him as much as $7 million.

But that would require enough people to show up and shell out. So maybe he should hold off on the "#winning!" tweets. It's too early to tell.