Nikki Novak here for Young Hollywood at South by Southwest in Austin with Chuck Lorre. Great to see you here in Texas.

Thank you.

When did you get in?

We got in last night.

Have you been hitting up the barbecue?

We did. We did ribs last night. I still regret it. It was great. It was great. Unbelievable.

Well, speaking of traveling here and speaking of uh the title of your book, What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter. I carried this bad boy from LA. I put this in my suitcase and it made my bag overweight. They would have charged me. So, I carried this and it made me very, very bitter. But it was worth it 'cause it's a fantastic book.

I'm glad the book can make you unhappy. That's terrific. That's what I was going for.

Is that what you were going for? I'm sorry. It's a collection of your vanity cards. Right. And for people who might not know what that is, I would sort of describe it maybe as Twitter without 140 characters being reduced to 140 characters.

It's the text at the end of a television show that they they uh allot to the writer producer of the show. Right.

I had a couple of favorites. First one, The Laws of Karma Do Not Apply to Show Business, where good things happen to bad people on a fairly regular basis. Mhm. Obviously very true. If you've been around long enough, you observe, you see, you see things. But let's do the opposite. Let's let's ask you if there's somebody that maybe you've worked with recently because you have so many shows going right now, who you would say is a good person and good things are happening to them.

Oh. It's mostly good people. I mean, we can start with Cryer though. I mean, he's incredible. He's a great man. 10 years, I've watched John work up close. It's just been a joy.

Well, what stands out to me, and I know it's it's sort of part of one of your vanity cards, is that not everybody should be a writer, but everybody sort of thinks they can be a writer, but everybody can direct.

Well, yeah, you read that's the first one. That was the very first one. Yeah. Yeah, it's probably a bunch of stuff in that first one I regret.

But one thing you have said to writers is that they should always write from the truth. And we had Courteney Thorne-Smith in our studio last week, and we were talking about the manscaping episode. Yeah. Where John Cryer has an accident. Has an accident manscaping in the shape of a heart. Did that come from a life experience?

I'm not going to No, we're not talking about that. It's in your book.

Oh, okay, well, then get the book. I'm not going to talk about manscaping on No, why am I on Young Hollywood anyway? One sort of thread through I would say like Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, it's sort of the idea of opposites being thrown together, people who are maybe necessarily would never hang out on a regular basis, but something forces them to sort of hang out. In your life, who would be your polar opposite?

Well, I, you know, I mean, you're talking to a guy who's been married twice, so I I clearly there are people who move in and then they move out. So, I don't know. See, in the sitcom world, they don't have a choice. They have to stay with you. It's it's it's funny on television. It's not so funny in real life.

Is this your first time in Austin?

This is my first time here, yeah.

Obviously embracing the barbecue, embracing sort of the lifestyle. Is it different sort of when you travel than when you're back in LA because I would assume in LA you have to be very, very healthy. You're so busy. You have three shows going. Are you generally a healthy guy?

I try. Yeah, because if you don't, you can't work. You pass out at unfortunate times of the day.

So, you're not hitting the craft services on a regular basis.

No, if you hit the M&M tray all the time, you're asleep at 2:00. Okay. And it's not necessarily a good thing. You know, sometimes it looks narcoleptic. You just boom, you know, you just pass out.

This book is obviously, What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter, a play on words. It's a play on what doesn't kill us makes it makes us stronger. Do you believe that's true?

I I the bitter part, I used to. Okay. I used to. I don't believe it anymore. It's still a good name for a book, but I actually don't believe in it. You know, the difficult times in your life can make you jaded and angry and cynical. Right. But it's a choice. If things hurt you and make you angry and and sad or whatever, that's just being human. But if you if you carry it for years, now that's your responsibility. I mean, or in my case, you know, at some point it's on me to let go of this stuff from the past.

Do you believe in karma?

Yeah, we make our own karma, you know. I think if you're carrying around a lot of guilt and stuff like that for things you did wrong, then you'll probably affect some sort of uh retribution.

And does everything happen for a reason? 'Cause that's one I don't necessarily. People always say that when something bad happens, people will say, oh, everything happens for a reason. But I think people are just trying to make you feel better. Do you think that's true?

I think it's I think it's our our consciousness is geared to wanting to find logic and reason. We tell a story, you know, and that's what we do on, you know, on TV shows, we tell stories. And so you look at your life and you tell a story. And, oh, yeah, this was meant to happen because it's a good story. Right.

Well, I believe in your I believe in your story. I think this is a fantastic book. And I love all your shows and congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you.

Did you you didn't mention that you were on Two and a Half Men recently.

Well, you can mention it, Chuck. I was being humble.

We did work together before. And let me just say, auditioning for Chuck Lorre's very nerve-wracking, but you made it very comfortable.

It was nerve-wracking?

It was nerve-wracking because people know you and and you walk in and you go, Chuck Lorre's in the room. But what was incredible was that you sort of, I think what you want from actors and maybe this is good advice to actors out there, you want that person's personality to shine through. I think that.

I want them to succeed. I'm rooting for them. Oh, please be good. Really, if you're good, then life is so much better for everyone. So I will

Well, one for one, could you cast me on my very first try. So thank you.

You nailed it. You were great.

Yes. There you go.