117. Work Culture Europe vs. USA - Hilarious Takes From Comedian Dan Pulzello

What happens when a New Yorker, a Spaniard, and an Australian walk into a meeting? You get culture clash, and some great comedy material.

In this episode, we talk to comedian Dan Pulzello, who turned cultural differences between Europe and the USA into a viral comedy series with over 100 million views.

Dan shares how humor uncovers real differences between American and European work culture, from paid time off and hustle culture to meeting styles, trust-building, and even how long you’re expected to sit in a restaurant.

You’ll laugh, you’ll nod in recognition, and you’ll walk away with practical insights for working across cultures:

• Why Americans equate speed with reliability
• Why Europeans protect long lunches and vacation days
• How trust is built differently across cultures
• What teams can borrow from both systems to thrive

Tune in for a mix of laughs and lessons you can apply to your next cross-cultural meeting.

- Follow Dan on Instagram: @danpulzello

- Connect with Talaera on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/talaera

- Grab all the takeaways: https://www.talaera.com/blog/us-vs-europe-work-culture

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Welcome to Tellera Talks, your go-to podcast for practical advice on succeeding in international business. My name is Paola, and today's guest uses comedy to make sense of cultural differences at work. Dan Polzello is a New York-based stand-up comedian. His sketches are seriously hilarious, and his Europe vs. United States series has gone viral, with over 100 million views across Instagram and TikTok. He's performed all over the world, and what makes his work so good is how how spot on it is. In this episode, we talk about how different countries approach meetings, time, and small talk. I hope you learn and laugh with this episode. Dan, welcome to Tolero Talks. I'm very happy to have you here. How are you?

SPEAKER_00: 0:43

I'm good. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, excited to talk about the differences between cultures, which I've experienced. I'm sure you've experienced as well in the professional world.

SPEAKER_02: 0:56

Oh, yeah. And yeah, we got to know you through your Instagram account, you have hilarious clips that we've actually shared internally a lot at Talia because they are very funny. And a lot of them touch on the cultural differences, especially in, in war culture between the U S and in Europe. But before we get started, can you tell us a little bit about who you are?

SPEAKER_00: 1:17

Yes. I'm a, a standup comedian born in New Jersey, living in New York. Now I've been doing standup for nine years, almost. really enjoy live performance. Pandemic came around and was a huge disruptive force for everything. The one thing in the comedy world being just the explosion of comedy content on social media. I don't know if there's an art form that has been as radically changed by social media as comedy. I think maybe like dance as well. You think of how many young kids are dancing on TikTok and stuff. Comedy content has just really exploded since the pandemic. So Yeah, kind of pivoted to social media content around 2021, doing live performance as much as I could throughout the pandemic. And then, yeah, just kind of hit, created a niche of, of making fun of corporate American life versus European corporate life. And yeah, that's kind of led to some, some international touring on my end, doing shows all across Europe, all across the U S. So that is, my background is, is pure comedy, no degrees in sociology or anthropology or, you know, the history of work studies or anything like that. So that is, yeah, that's, I think that's important for me to highlight is like, I'm funny first. And then, you know, I've, I've tried to learn as much as I can about, you know, different cultures and stuff, but comedy is, is kind of my, my main purpose.

UNKNOWN: 2:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 2:59

Which is, you know, it's a great way to bring down very abstract, sometimes concepts around cross-cultural differences into something that is very tangible. And of course, coming from humor, from a point of making people laugh. What is one clip or one sketch that got so popular and why do you think it hit such a nerve?

SPEAKER_00: 3:20

Yeah, there was a, the first one that I did was the best one. I was messing, experimenting with a bunch of different formats and stuff And then I hit on, you know, a comparison where the European is, is just saying like, you know, what should I do with my 178 vacation days this year? Kind of stressing out about it and then cut to the American and the American is frazzled sprinting into the office saying, you know, sorry, I'm late. I got hit by a car, but don't worry. I'll make it up. I'll work through lunch, which yeah, that was the biggest one that hit a nerve. And I think to your point about comedy and stuff the I think what rang true was just the vibe of it like I've and it was something that I was you know naive about at the time just trying to be funny but I think there is I've seen it with my wife who is a lot of international experience she's an Australian and so her perspective has been very vital in developing this series but I've seen it amongst her friends in Europe like when she was working in the UK a strong mild stress but a stress about what should I do with my vacation days how should I use them that is very foreign to the US so that vibe of just you know my wife would be embarrassed about talking about how much paid time off she gets you know kind of try and massage the truth a little bit when she talks to Americans to say like oh it's not that much you know it's public holidays it's 28 days like you know just kind of so that was on the European side I think that was a novel idea of just highlighting that there that is a reality there can be stress amongst Europeans for you know what do I do with all this paid time off from the American perspective I think I got the vibe correct of the American as an individual without even a second thought saying you know almost like hey I got hit by a car I'll make it right don't worry don't worry about me no no concept of you know like he didn't go to the hospital in the sketch like there's no mention of I'll be out for a couple weeks I'll be out for a couple days it's no let me make this right immediately I'll work through lunch and that is a mindset of Americans is I will sacrifice you know health temporarily I'll do it right now we just got to get it done like and that is you know obviously everything exists on the spectrum, but I think a lot of Americans, people who work with Americans, a lot of Americans identified that as like yes, that vibe is correct. An American will work beyond what they deem to be safe. And they might not even know the real sacrifices that they're making in the pursuit of, of, of that. So that was the kickoff of the, of the series. It, you know, it got a couple million views or whatever, tons of engagement, people, Americans in the comments, like you laugh, but this felt like something similar happened to a coworker, something similar happened to me. And so I think that was a recognition of this is a, you know, a, an area that I can explore. And I was correct in that assumption because here we are, I think four or five years later, and I still am finding like different things to compare and the world is also changing as well. So viewing the world through that mindset, it's been, it's been a very rich source of, of material for sure. As anybody who has spent five minutes in an international call will tell you like, yeah, there's some differences. Like there's some, there's some misunderstandings. There's, you know, so that's, yeah, that's kind of been the, that was the most successful one. And it, you know, I think started momentum just in the larger domain of, of that comparison.

SPEAKER_02: 7:20

We'll add a link to it too, in the comments. I know exactly which one you mean. And it is funny for sure. It's, it's really funny. It's just the, the backdrop of it is, is also quite interesting. We'll dig a little deeper into the different cultural differences between the US and in Europe But you mentioned that your partner, your wife's Australian, and that was part of the source of inspiration for you to do this series. Did you encounter any cultural shocks to yourself when you met her?

SPEAKER_00: 7:49

Yeah, so we met in 2015. And I think there are some differences. Obviously, it's, you know, a relationship you're learning about the other person, throw in two different countries. And I think there's more learning that needs to occur the, a big thing was, you know, kind of researching it and talking to her about, she has a PhD. She's so much smarter than me. And so, you know, smart and empathetic and stuff. So we have had conversations about what we think that the major differences between the US and Australia is, and it's, it's individualistic versus collective, right? There's some metric that ranks this and it puts, Australia and the U.S. like close to each other in terms of, oh, Australians value their individuality. Americans value their individuality. You know, they're they rank similarly. And that is not our experience at all. I think there is a concept that my wife's. pure Australian concept called Tall Poppy Syndrome. Are you familiar with that concept?

SPEAKER_02: 9:04

Tell me a little bit more about it.

SPEAKER_00: 9:06

So the premise is, you know, in a field of poppies, if one flower grows too high above the rest of the flowers, then it will be cut down to maintain the distance between the others. So you'll see, like, it's everything I say, of course, is in wild generalizations, but it's a phrase that is in australia if they perceive somebody to be achieving too much or going beyond they're not achieving too much but maybe you know thinking that they're better than everybody else like there's there's a social balance to you know like all right don't get ahead of yourself like kind of view that in america is not existent it is we are all raised to be the greatest You know, you can do anything you want. You can be an astronaut. You can be an NBA player. You can be an NBA player in space. There is no limit to what you can achieve in terms of society telling you what you can or cannot do. Probably to our detriment, I think we could use probably some tall poppy syndrome. But that was like the big one that the just celebration of success in America You know, and I think just a little, just a little bit of moderation of that on the Australian side. I don't think they're, you know, you know, chopping people down to say like, don't, don't achieve anything, but it's, you know, kind of like a, Hey, pump the brakes. You're not that great. Uh, which yeah, I think is a, a fun kind of like dial on society that you can like turn up and down. So that was, that was a big one, but yeah, I think the, yeah, Australians, the Australians that I made, you know, value family. community. There's just a really strong social safety net and value for physical activity and stuff. It's a really, I think, well-adjusted and healthy country from what I can see. So taking my wife out of that and moving her to New York has been another culture shock, I think, as well.

SPEAKER_02: 11:20

How's she coping?

SPEAKER_00: 11:22

Good now. Yeah, there's only so many interactions on the subway that you can have in a week before you're like, maybe not. Yeah. The, you know, self kind of like advertising yourself, advocating for yourself in professional situations. I think Americans are just louder in that. So I think she's totally crushing it, killing it now. And yeah, I think it's a very difficult working environment. I think she's doing incredibly well. There was for sure a learning curve up top of how to interact with Americans.

SPEAKER_02: 11:58

That's wonderful. And you talk a lot about stereotypes in the U.S. and in Europe. What is one stereotype about the U.S. that you think is actually true? And which one do you think is a bit of an unfair stereotype, if you can think of any, about the U.S. really? That's actually not true.

SPEAKER_00: 12:17

Yeah, I think Europeans are correct in assuming just the American huddle culture like Europeans think that Americans work too hard that is correct Europeans are correct about the system in America as being hyper competitive to the detriment of physical and emotional health at some points so Europeans are correct about that assessment of America within the system I think there are people who share similar views of Quality of life, work not being the end all be all, you know, strong desires for, you know, just avoiding burnout and things like that. So that is, yeah, I think Europeans can tend to paint Americans with a broad brush in terms of the value of hard work. It should also be said that hard work does not equal efficiency and hard work does not equal outcomes, which Americans have no concept of. You know, if I break, it's just a series of brick walls that you have to throw yourself through. And then at the end of it, it's like, why does my body hurt? But it's like, well, because you... You kept pushing through. So that's one. The system in America is hyper-competitive and can be crazy. There are people who can build situations for themselves where quality of life is valued. Travel is valued. Family time is valued. But... that's not the norm i would say if that makes sense

SPEAKER_02: 14:05

yeah totally and it's also worth you know also bringing the u.s is a very big country and even i live in spain and even in spain people from the north have nothing to do with people from the south they're like totally different personalities of course there's even individual personalities within within the same communities but in the u.s when you go to california it's nothing to do with people from new york or from texas or from Florida or from Nebraska. These differences is also something when we talk about, oh, American culture is a big bucket, but within the state, there's also a lot of differences, right?

SPEAKER_00: 14:42

Yes, and it's kind of a choose-your-own-adventure of I think there's more diversity in, yeah, those different corporate or job vibes. If you want to work in finance in New York, I know People who work until 3 a.m., that's a possibility. I have people who are, in my life, comedy is great because it's just so many diversity points and ages and origin stories and stuff, but you have people who would sleep on the toilet. They'd go to the bathroom, they'd go to sleep for 15 minutes, and then they'd leave. The field of finance in New York, crazy. Yeah, insane. There are industries that are... way more laid back you know that are i don't know of them off the top of my head because i feel like i always worked in sales or advertising and stuff which is just different levels of crazy so yeah that's i think to your point it's you can you can find whatever you want And I would encourage anybody in America who is in a field or in a company that it's like, oh, this doesn't seem healthy. And it's like, well, I am certain that in America there is a job for you somewhere that aligns with whatever you value at this point in your life.

SPEAKER_02: 16:04

Great point. So it's not just geographical differences. It's very industry-based. That's a really good point.

UNKNOWN: 16:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 16:13

And so when we think about, and again, we're talking about general differences, and when we talk about culture, we always emphasize the idea of get to know the person, don't always assume, don't rely on stereotypes. However, stereotypes are general patterns that actually help us understand reality in an easier way. So for those listening, so we have listeners all over the world, most of them outside of the United States. I think 80% of our listeners are outside. outside of the United States, what does a typical work week in the U.S. look like? And how does that compare to a typical work week in Europe, for example?

SPEAKER_00: 16:53

Yeah, I think there's, you know, again, the title of the episode could be America is Big Endeavors. You know, like there is, yes, it's a big, it's bigger than you think. You know, I know people who are like, hey, like in a day, I'll drive to Philadelphia and then I'll drive to Boston. And it's like, nope. Like, so yes, having said that, the experience of me and my family and people, you know, like the Northeast, like a typical working day from the jump, The commute is going to be longer than it is in Europe, on average. The U.S. has really not robust public transport. New York is different. I think New York is more of a European city than most people realize. Even having said that, my parents lived in New Jersey. I lived in New Jersey, grew up there. Their commute in was an hour and a half, door to door, sometimes higher, two hours. Lunch? Culturally, not as important to Americans. So I'd say you're waking up earlier, you get into the office earlier, one lunch comes around. You know, I'm sure that there's laws, worker protection, something in Europe married with the culture. And, you know, what starts what? Is it legislation that feeds the culture? Is it culture that feeds legislation? Absent in America, you're eating at your desk. There's nobody, you know, this varies by field, but a view of food as fuel, get it into my body. It's a math problem. Calories for brain. So that's... generalizations but i think that that's like helpful to to think about the no federally mandated paid time off uh it varies by company varies by state there in the eu from what i understand there are you know 28 days seems to be a magic number that is enforceable across industries across countries and stuff obviously this is gross generalizations but that's the fundamental truth less there The government cannot tell companies how long to give their employees off in the private sector. So an American work week is going to be more monotonous. They're going to bleed into each other. Time is going to go faster. Because there's less paid time off. Federal holidays. Less of those. And even variation in which ones Americans can take. For example, Martin Luther King Day. Some companies get it fully off. Schools get it off. Some companies do not get it fully off. Memorial Day is similar. So an average American workspace will have anxiety baseline very low. What does this year look like? Are they going to give us the Friday off before Memorial Day? If MLK Day, it always falls on a Monday, like 4th of July is variable, where does that fall? How will the time in between New Year's and Christmas work out? Because if they both fall on weekends, what days will we get off in between? So yeah, I think those are larger larger thing and there is variety within that you know i think like summer fridays sometimes you can you can companies will give you a friday offer or you can leave the office on friday this is all you know i'm sure a lot of these metrics are pre-covid in terms of remote work and stuff so there's more variability there but those are the rules of the game we're all playing with those rules i would say generally more anxiety and uncertainty about paid time on off where it's coming from and you know just larger stressors in terms of longer commutes and i think just less federal protections for for employees that can produce some pretty crazy results you know you can make like occasionally it will make uh steve jobs it's a system that could also produce the serene venus williams is of the world my But then you do get that mentality

SPEAKER_02: 22:06

where you get a lot of growth. and you can get a lot of innovation and faster scientific findings, which is also positive, just so that we

SPEAKER_00: 22:31

can also show the side of things. Yes, growth, like constant growth, and the growth allows for, you know, if you're a guy or a woman who comes up with an idea for an app that automates one element, of a financial transaction or something like that, you can become a billionaire. There are people, the potential for disruption, innovation, change, it's unlimited. There's so much potential for it. You can just change the way that everybody does one small thing, then you're talking about really, really big change that can permeate to the end of the ends of the earth for good and bad. Sometimes the changes are disastrous, but that's exciting. There's an energy in New York of a lot of people who are running around and trying to do

SPEAKER_02: 23:30

something. And you just came back from Europe. I saw one of your most recent clips of you in Madrid. What are some...

SPEAKER_00: 23:55

Thank you. Locked in on the deepest conversation that you've ever, and I don't speak Spanish, so it could just be like, God, I wish you'd get a haircut or something. But the cafe culture is just incredible, and I am so jealous of it. Just the ability to, you know, kind of like open-ended, like I'll go to the cafe and we'll see. Yeah, I love Madrid. Talk about places in my life that I've been to that I could see myself living in. And Madrid is, like, very close to the top of the list. Incredible food, obviously. The people are so nice. But, yeah, I'm a sucker for a cafe. You get me a good seat at a cafe with a waiter who maybe forgets that I exist. You know, that's the dream

SPEAKER_02: 25:04

for me. You brought up a big cultural difference between the U.S. and Spain, the waitress or waiter.

SPEAKER_00: 25:25

Yeah, again, New York is its own. Somebody came up to me and said that they think I'm not an American, I'm a New Yorker. And I was like, yeah, that makes sense. So New York is its own. New York is everything about America on steroids. But I was out to eat with family and friends. take as long as you want take as long as you want we are going to make you feel like you need to leave but take as long as you want that I think one of the people that we were with was from the UK and they were like this would never happen just the soft you know

SPEAKER_02: 41:00

Like understanding what truly is valuable to you is a great first step. And sometimes I don't think it's that much about these are my rules and either follow them or not, right? I think it's much more about this is where I'm coming from. This is what's important for me. Is there a way we can design an environment where we can both thrive, where we can both have our piece of the cake, so to say?

SPEAKER_00: 41:26

Yes, exactly. It would be, yes. You make a very important point because it'd be insane to go to your boss and be like actually Fridays are me days so yeah that is yes it's yes I think you make a very important distinction they're not like hard and fast rules but it's information sharing and now do whatever you want with that information you know now you know who I am we could be you know you can help me you can hurt me you can sometimes help me sometimes hurt me but yeah now all I can do is give you that information and then it's up to you how you react to it

SPEAKER_02: 42:01

Right. And then talk through it and see if there are ways where you can actually adjust so that everyone gets what they need most of the time, at least.

SPEAKER_00: 42:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 42:12

One last question, and I could talk about this topic forever, but we're wrapping up soon. If you could pick one cold-filled treat from each site to combine them into a better system, what would be one thing that you would take from Europe and one thing would you keep from the US?

SPEAKER_00: 42:29

Yes, I think the I think miss okay I will be very careful at how I say this I think there's there's some I think everybody could use a dose of American exceptionalism right like I think you especially in my field in comedy the level of delusion required to say that one day I will be in a room where people will pay to hear me talk is insane. But it's also, you know... necessary. You need to be delusional when you start. And I think that there are elements of American exceptionalism that like get, you know, obviously there are terrible consequences of too much American exceptionalism, but the yeah, just confidence in the face of not a ton of evidence is useful when you're starting something, when you're beginning something that is very important. If you are trying to change careers or you're trying to start an art form, borrow some American exceptionalism. Be like a bald eagle. Jump out of the nest. Keep it. It's like diesel fuel. It burns very hot, but again, it's useful in small doses. That is what I would say. I think we could all benefit from that. And then I think the European inside there are yeah I think we talked about it a little bit but just slowing down for an open ended meal or open ended activities like I don't you know I think long dinners long lunches you know walks Like, I think those are things that like Europeans value a lot is, you know, that this dinner is going to last however long it lasts. Do that. You know, I think that there's benefits to it, downsides to it. You don't want to do like something like that every single week, you know, build in three hours of dinner and stuff like that. But like cafe culture, I wish that that was more prevalent in Europe. America, more seats. I mean, you walk around like Paris and it's the amount of chairs per capita. It's like, there are more chairs. There are more cafe chairs in Paris than there are humans. Like, yeah, I think I wish in America that there were more spaces with like open ended timelines or yeah. That's something that every time I go to Europe, I'm just like, dude, it is lower. The service is slower. The, you know, I walk slower. That is yeah. Yeah, that's just open. I think European, it's just kind of more like open-ended experiences. I think American experiences are more finite just from a time perspective.

SPEAKER_02: 45:48

And faster. Interesting. Thank you, Dan. This was very interesting. I laughed and I loved hearing your experience as well. Where can people find you?

SPEAKER_00: 45:59

Instagram is the place that I spend the most time at, Dan Polzello. And then, yeah, follow me. And if you want to watch me perform live, I'm always touring in different places. So yeah, Instagram is the best place to find out about all that.

SPEAKER_02: 46:19

Awesome. Thank you for coming on the show. It was lovely to have you.

SPEAKER_00: 46:23

Great. Yeah. Thanks, Paola. Ditto.

SPEAKER_02: 46:25

Thank you so much for listening to Talera Talks. This year, we have so much more for you. I'm committed to bringing you the best guests, episodes, and courses to help you take your career to the next level. Hit the subscribe button and keep learning.