Zach Hadel, known by his online alias Psychicpebbles, is an American animator and voice actor. Before joining SleepyCabin in 2014, Zach was best known for Hellbenders, an animated series he developed with fellow animator Chris O' Neill, posted onto his psychicpebbles YouTube channel. Zach also posted short-form animations to this channel.
After failing to pitch Hellbenders to Adult Swim, Chris and Zach subsequently moved on from the project to pursue other endeavours, with Zach going on to create Smiling Friends alongside Michael Cusack in 2020. In May of 2021, Smiling Friends was officially greenlit and later premiered in January of 2022.
Zach's other notable work includes writing several episodes of JonTron from 2015 to 2016 as well as his own podcast Schmucks. Since 2018, Zach has been a main cast member on OneyPlays alongside Chris. Zach has also collaborated with other creators, such as h3h3productions, TomSka, Jeff Delgado, Chills and various celebrities and YouTube personalities who appeared on Schmucks.
Role In SleepyCabin[]
On the podcast, Zach is known for his random "what if" scenarios often involving random off-the-wall things. In early episodes, Zach often brought up Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust, and Jews during these scenarios, which caused a running joke among the SleepyCabin crew and fanbase that Zach is a Nazi/anti-Semite. Zach also has no problem with using slurs during bits.
Despite his dark humour, on more serious portions of the podcast, Zach has shown that he is quite knowledgeable on topics including animation, politics, voice-acting and pop culture. In the past, he has also claimed that he is not like his online persona in reality and considered himself incredibly boring, whilst fans usually expect him to be "off-the-walls" at all times.
Aside from his jokes on Adolf Hitler and Nazism, Zach is known for his recurring jokes revolving around Rob Schneider, who he apparently has contempt towards for producing and starring in low-quality content.
Zach's voice[]
The most obvious thing one will notice about Zach is his voice, which is very nasally and stuffy sounding. There are many medical explanations for a nasally-sounding voice such as Zach's, but Zach himself has never confirmed the cause, as he values his privacy. This hasn't stopped many fan speculations and discussions surrounding the cause of his voice sounding the way it does. It is most likely a deviated septum
Additionally, Zach has alluded to it being a sensitive subject. In SleepyCast Season 1 Episode 26, Zach refuses a fan's question asking about his voice. However, Zach has also joked about it. Arin Hanson of the Game Grumps has recounted a story where Zach jokingly told him his voice is the result of being in a car crash, before revealing it to be a lie. As previously stated, Zach's privacy leaves it unknown if he really cares about it or not.
Whilst the origin of his voice is ultimately unknown, fans often cite it as one of the most memorable and loveable things about Zach. Fan-made compilations of Zach screaming or doing impressions (one notable example being his Donald Trump impression) are often uploaded to YouTube. Official OneyPlays compilations involving Zach are also extremely popular, with the six-hour-long "BEST OF ZACH" compilation currently standing as the channel's second most popular video, as well as the most popular gameplay-related video.
Trivia[]
- Whilst Zach has appeared on camera in numerous videos, he usually tries to avoid showing his face if possible. He has stated his reasoning for this is that he would rather be known for his work and animation than his actual appearance, saying that too many people are obsessed with the creator behind the work rather than the work itself. Zach is also relatively introverted and takes privacy seriously.
- Zach doesn't appear at all in the "We are SleepyCabin" introduction video on the SleepyCabin YouTube channel. Despite this, he is still introduced as a member of SleepyCabin, his absence explained as him being at the park looking for the "perfect child".
- Zach is currently working on Smiling Friends, an animated TV show on Adult Swim with Michael Cusack. A pilot aired on the network on on April 1st of 2020 as a part of Adult Swim's April Fool's Day schedule to overwhelmingly positive reception. Critics praised the 12 minute short for it's animation, relatable characters, dark humor, and the voice acting. On May 19th 2021, Adult Swim and the show's creators announced the series had been greenlit and would premiere later in 2021.
- Zach's role as Charlie in Smiling Friends is noteworthy, as it is a rare instance of Zach playing the "straight man" character.
- His favorite food from Wawa is a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato.
- Zach has said himself that he is of German-descent or part-German. Hadel actually is a surname of German origin, but it's unknown if Zach actually has German ancestry or he was simply adding onto his long-running jokes on Nazism.
Podcast Appearances[]
S1:Pilot [Just Spittin' the Shit]
S1:E1 [Super Ghosts 'n Corpses: Poop Edition]
S1:E2 [Spaghetti Birds]
S1:E3 [Animals, Animation and Other A-Words]
S1:E4 [The Ghosts of Grandma's Genitals]
S1:E5 [The Rogue Fingerer]
S1:E6 [The Lion, the Witch and the Wilhelm Scream]
S1:E7 [SleepyCast_Halloween-Special.wav]
S1:E8 [King Crab, Ruler of Crab Kingdom]
S1:E9 [Checking Our Privileges]
S1:E10 [The Pornography Hour]
S1:E11 [Spooktacular Q&A Spectacular
S1:E12 [A Very Sleepy Christmas Special]
S1:E13 [The Hospital Episode]
S1:E15 [Sab and the Bean Stalker]
S1:E16 [Batten Down the Hatches]
S1:17 [Little Skatey]
S1:19 [Voicemails with Jesus]
S1:E20 [Hardly Gay Q&A]
S1:E22 [Beating the Monkey]
S1:E23 [Four Dicks and a Nik]
S1:E24 [Apples]
S1:E25 [The Self-Appreciation Hour]
S1:E26 [Horny Goblin Fartscapades]
S1:E27 [Sharks]
S1F:E30 [The End?] - (Part One)
S1F:E30 [The End?] - (Part Two)
S1F:E30 [The End?] - (Part Three)