Watch This Guy Dress Up Like A Tree And Seriously Freak Out Pedestrians

Wonder if he plans to branch out.

A 57-year-old man in Venice Beach, California, is hoping to “help people see the forest for the trees” by dressing up as a tree himself.

His official name is Lionel Powell, but he is known to his neighbors as “Treeman,” thanks to the elaborate costume he wears on the streets that includes stilts.

There’s a method to his madness.

“What I’m doing here is called a tree awakening,” he told 60 Second Docs, an online film series. “People are so busy they don’t get to stop and smell the roses.”

Powell has worked as a costume character for more than 20, dressing up as characters like Pluto and Eeyore at amusement parks like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.

Now he has planted roots in Venice Beach, where he performs street theater in costumes of his own design.

Powell is especially fond of standing very still like a real tree before moving and freaking out passers-by.

“I get many different reactions, but 90 percent of people are awed. Doesn’t matter how big they are,” Powell told ArgonautNews.com. “Mostly what I get is after the surprise [of startling someone] is laughter.”