Charlie Sheen got a lesson in the fickleness of crowds Saturday night. While doing his best to cash in on his recent cult with the launch of his "My Violent Torpedo of Truth / Defeat Is Not an Option Show," he tried to position himself as a folk hero of freedom. Unfortunately for him, the audience that turned out here at the Fox Theatre took him at his word: They essentially booed him off the stage.

Admittedly, this was one tough house. The warm-up act, some lanky, underwhelming comic named Kurt Fox, could barely finish a joke amid all the hoots and jeers. Sheen had to come out and ask the audience to cut the poor guy some slack. But there was no one to fly to his rescue once it was clear that the ex-star of "Two and a Half Men" had no ability as a live performer.

Honesty is Sheen's touted value, so here goes: He didn’t bring the goods, and no amount of pandering to the spectators with his you-and-me against-the-trolls malarkey could convince them otherwise.

He flashed bits of the “20/20” interview. He brandished the “warlock,” “tiger blood” and “duh” catch phrases his people have been slapping on merchandise. He offered an incoherent rant from a presidential podium. He even tried to hide behind film montages and video clips. But the aging Hollywood pretty boy was not only defeated by the uncontrollable nature of theater--he was running scared.

Read the complete review here: Charlie Sheen review: An inept performance had his audience baying for human blood

--Charles McNulty in Detroit

Above: Sheen onstage Saturday in Detroit. Credit: Carlos Osorio / Associated Press. See more photos of Charlie Sheen's "Violent Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option"

