The Funniest Tree in Town

Over 1,000 Jokes Have Been Displayed on the Joke Tree in the Alphabet Streets

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

What’s black and white and red all over? A newspaper.

What’s tall and silent, but also has something funny to say once per day? The Joke Tree in the Alphabet Streets—which, to date, has displayed more than 1,000 family friendly jokes, put together by Ann and Jon Vitti.

The Joke Tree started as a pandemic project. Ann and Jon were in London when safer-at-home orders went into place, and they were called back to the United States.

“Around May 1, I started the tree,” Ann explained. “I put a sign up that was a question for the joke, and then I thought they could flip it, but then nobody was touching anything. So we put the sign on the tree and then on the ground is the answer … and we’ve just done that ever since, for three and a half years.”

The jokes come from many different sources, Ann explained, including joke books and online. Then, there came a point where Ann kept seeing the same jokes across her usual sources, so she put out a call to the neighborhood—and they delivered. Jon has made up a few, Ann said, and she has come up with one.

“Who is the most popular vegan rapper?” Ann asked. “Megan the Scallion.”

Some of the other jokes featured on the tree are classics: Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine.

There are also themed weeks around the holidays, like Halloween—which Ann said is her favorite—as well as things like brain teaser week and animal jokes.

Ann said the jokes are planned out about a month in advance, including when her and Jon are out of town. The person staying at their house has jokes that were planned in advance to put out each day, so there is no lapse.

“It’s really funny, like we went out of town for a month,” Ann explained. “We said that the Joke Tree is hibernating, and somebody said, ‘Don’t do that again.’”

During the pandemic, Ann said that greatest compliment she received was one person who said when stuff got to be too much, she would tell her husband to take the kids to the Joke Tree so she could have 20 minutes to relax.

“I thought, that’s the gift you can give somebody that you don’t even know,” Ann said. “For us, it’s just really fun.”

In fact, the Joke Tree lore has since expanded, with nearby Jake the jacaranda who watches from nearby, jealous that Joke Tree is the star.

“He always puts out kind of snarky things,” Ann said

The Joke Tree celebrated a major milestone in September 2023 when it displayed its 1,000th joke. The Vittis honored the occasion with balloons and a special display.

“You know how people say, ‘Oh, it feels like just yesterday’ … Sure did not,” she said with a laugh.

One neighbor, Loren Kaplan, has been walking most days since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, making sure to pass by the Joke Tree every walk since July 2020.

“Seeing the jokes on the Joke Tree gives me such a lift,” Kaplan said. “I really look forward to it. I just think it’s the nicest thing that Ann and Jon do this for our community. I see lots of people stopping all the time. One woman told me she takes a picture of the jokes every day to send to her 93-year-old mother. It’s such a gift they are giving to all of us.”

Ann said the original plan was to end the jokes as 2020 came to a close, but after one faithful joke-reader—a young kid—expressed worry that with the end of the year would come the end of the jokes, the Vittis decided to keep going, and going, and going.

“Because of that kid, whose name I do not know, we’ve gone an additional two and a half years,” Ann said with a laugh.

Another benefit of the Joke Tree is that Ann has gotten to know her neighbors better than before. The Vittis have lived in the Palisades for 30 years, in the same home in the Alphabet Streets for 25 years.

“Everybody needs a joke,” Ann said, “keep the good feeling going.”