Zach Hadel

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Zach Hadel
Hadel at the 2024 WonderCon
Born
Zachery Hadel

1993 (age 31–32)[2]
Kansas, U.S.
Other namespsychicpebbles
Occupations
  • YouTuber
  • animator
  • writer
  • director
  • voice actor
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2008–present
Genres
  • Animation
  • comedy
Subscribers1.65 million
Views230 million
Last updated: October 22, 2025

Zachery Hadel[3] (/ˈheɪdəl/ HAY-dəl;[4]) (born March 4, 1993), known by his pseudonym psychicpebbles, is an American YouTuber, animator, writer, director, and voice actor. He and Michael Cusack are the co-creators and co-stars of the Adult Swim animated series Smiling Friends (2022–present). He is also known for his Internet animations, for being a co-host of the Let's Play web series OneyPlays, and for his nasally voice.

Early life

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Hadel was born in Kansas to Michael J. Hadel, who owned several successful businesses throughout Johnson County[3] where he grew up.[2][5] He began his animation career by uploading Adobe Flash animations to Newgrounds, later transitioning to YouTube.[6] He enrolled in college to learn graphic design, but immediately dropped out before attending any classes.[7] A self-taught animator, Hadel has stated that shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Simpsons, Dragon Ball Z, Beavis and Butt-Head, and South Park inspired his animation style.[8]

Career

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His short-form independent cartoons became popular online, such as his animated video responding to overuse of the "arrow in the knee" meme from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which went viral in 2011.[9] Along with fellow Newgrounds animator Chris O'Neill, Hadel created the popular web cartoon series Hellbenders featuring exaggerated versions of O'Neill and himself, which was picked up for a pilot by Adult Swim but ultimately not pursued after several years in development hell.[10][11] Hadel also collaborated with O'Neill to make a short animated video parodying the Kony 2012 documentary; the video went viral, receiving over 1.7 million views within its first weekend.[12] Hadel was a member of the YouTube group SleepyCabin and co-hosted SleepyCast, a comedy and discussion podcast hosted by former Newgrounds animators that launched on August 30, 2014. As of April 2024, his YouTube channel psychicpebbles has 1.6 million subscribers and 222.28 million views.[13]

Hadel animated a segment of Seth Rogen's Hilarity for Charity with Justin Roiland, co-creator of Rick and Morty. Roiland later appraised the animation as his most transgressive joke.[14] Hadel and Roiland also appeared alongside animator Alex Hirsch on h3h3's livestream podcast for charity[15] where they raised over $100,000 for California wildlife relief.[16]

Hadel hosted the podcast Schmucks from 2017 to 2019, where he interviewed fellow entertainers such as Michael Stevens, Finn Wolfhard, Jon Jafari, and Ethan Klein.[17]

In 2018, Hadel storyboarded for SpongeBob SquarePants for the season 11 episode "The Grill is Gone".[18]

Smiling Friends

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On April 1, 2020, Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim block premiered the pilot episode of Hadel and Australian animator Michael Cusack's animated adult television series, Smiling Friends.[19] The series follows Pim and Charlie, two employees of the titular nonprofit organization missioned with making people smile.[20] The series premiered with a full season marathon on January 9, 2022, and later debuted on HBO Max.[21][22] Adult Swim announced that the show would be renewed for a second season on February 9, 2022.[23] Adult Swim renewed the show for a third season on June 13, 2024.[24]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
TBA Hand Drawn: Documentary Self Documentary

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 The One Show Animator, features TomSka (Season 6, Episode 211, segment "OH NO BEARS")
2018 Seth Rogen's Hilarity for Charity Ity Also animator
SpongeBob SquarePants Storyboard Artist ("The Grill is Gone")
2022–present Smiling Friends Charlie, Glep, various Also co-creator, director, writer, storyboard artist, storyboard revisionist, art director, character design supervisor, designer, and animator
2022 Tig n' Seek Darryl Barryl Episode: "Twin Seeks"
The Paloni Show! Halloween Special! Reggie Paloni Co-writer
2025 Big City Greens Concerned Gym Bro Episode: "Flexed"[25]
Hazbin Hotel Sinner, Scream Rain Episode: "Scream Rain"

Web

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Year Title Role Notes
2011–2017 PsychicPebbles Various Various shorts
2012 TomSka Animator on "Rock Bottom"
2012–2015 Hellbenders Zach, various Co-creator, co-director, co-writer
2012–2013 Ninja Sex Party Animator on "Unicorn Wizard" and "Best Friends Forever!"
2013 TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise Zunchdial Voice role
OneyNG Work on "Potato Salad"
2014 Wrath Club The Tumblist Voice role, episode : "The Tumblist"
2014–present OneyPlays Self Guest, co-host
2014–2019 SleepyCast Podcast, host
2014–2019 JonTron Grimbo, World's Strongest Gamer, Indy Wife, Yoda (voice) Animator, writer, voice role (4 episodes)
2016 Eddsworld Additional art
2017–2019 Schmucks Self Podcast, host, 4 episodes
2017, 2021 The Official Podcast Guest, 2 episodes
2017 Hellsing Ultimate Abridged Satan Voice role
2018 H3 Podcast Self, Logan Paul Fan, Donald Trump Podcast, guest
2019 The Ultimate Recap Cartoon Momo Voice role, episode: "The Ultimate ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' Recap Cartoon"
Satina Melvin Voice role, episode: " Bring Your Demon To Work Day"
The Cyanide & Happiness Show Tiny Gene Episode: "The Animator's Curse"
2019–present The Create Unknown Self Guest
2020 MeatCanyon[26] Humpty Dumpty Voice role, episode : "Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall"
2021 The Stockholms Willy Voice role; 2 episodes
2021 SMILING FRIENDS: Free Draw Self Special featured on Adult Swim YouTube channel.
2022 Monkey Wrench Screamo Episode: "The Ghost Egg"
2022 Brain Dump Secretary Episode: "What Is Fash Ism?"
2023 Helluva Boss Additional voices Episode: "Mammon's Magnificent Musical Mid-Season Special (ft Fizzarolli)"
2024 Spooky Month Literally Zach Episode: "Hollow Sorrows", misspelled as "Zach Hadle"
2024 Catching Up Mad Bouncer Episode: "Clubbing"
2025 Space King Rudolph Episode: "Kingsmas"
The Amazing Digital Circus Orange Crappy Looking Fish Episode: "Beach Episode"
TBA Shrek 2 Retold Shrek Voice role

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2022 High on Life Various Voice

Sourced from Hadel's IMDb page and YouTube channel.[27]

Notes

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  1. ^ In 2016, Hadel confessed on SleepyCast to accidentally deleting his original account through his email.[1]

References

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  1. ^ SleepyCast S2:E24 - [Looney Goons, Merry Maladies]. June 18, 2016. Event occurs at 14:49-15:26. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "The Create Unknown Podcast: "PsychicPebbles & Michael Cusack Talk Smiling Friends"". YouTube. January 31, 2022. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022. I'm 28 now
  3. ^ a b "Mike Joseph Hadel Obituary". Maple Hill Funeral Home. Maple Hill Funeral Home. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  4. ^ Smiling Friends Panel at SDCC 2022. July 24, 2022. Event occurs at 0:58-1:00. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  5. ^ Smiling Friends panel SDCC 2022 (Q&A segment). July 23, 2022. Event occurs at 8:15-8:17.
  6. ^ Rector, Seth (March 1, 2022). "Smiling Friends: 10 Things You May Have Forgotten About Season One". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  7. ^ SleepyCast 30 : Part 1 - [The End? Season Finale], October 29, 2015, archived from the original on September 4, 2022, retrieved September 4, 2022
  8. ^ Zahed, Ramin (January 4, 2022). "Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel Discuss Making 'Smiling Friends,' Their New Adult Swim Show". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  9. ^ Good, Owen (December 30, 2011). "I Was Working On My Own Anti-Arrow-to-the-Knee Vid Too, But Then I ..." Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  10. ^ Hearne, John (March 28, 2013). "Irish reveal how to make a career out of YouTube". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022. The young Wexford entrepreneur is just back from Los Angeles where he had been pitching to get him and his collaborator Zach Hadel's newest series 'Hellbenders' into mainstream television.
  11. ^ Tucker, David (April 3, 2013). "Wexford's Chris a web sensation". Enniscorthy Guardian. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022. O'Neill is collaborating with fellow YouTuber, Psychicpebbles, on a series called Hellbenders, which is also racking up big numbers.
  12. ^ Eördögh, Fruzsina (March 26, 2012). ""Kony 2012": the one-minute version". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  13. ^ Trumbore, Dave (April 16, 2020). "Here's How Nick Wolfhard & Brother Finn Voiced Insane Creatures on 'Smiling Friends'". Collider. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  14. ^ Will, Jones (February 20, 2021). "Rick & Morty Co-Creator Justin Roiland Reveals the Cartoon of His That He Thinks Went Way Too Far". joe.co.uk. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  15. ^ "#99 - Justin Roiland & Alex Hirsch Charity Special 2018". Podchaser. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  16. ^ Alex Hirsch [@_AlexHirsch] (December 17, 2018). "Tomorrow! 3PM PST! It's H3H3's annual 🌟Charity Livestream🌟 with Me, @JustinRoiland, & more! Goofs! Yuks! Amazing Prizes! All to benefit @DirectRelief!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 15, 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Schmucks Podcast". Podchaser. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  18. ^ "i did a small freelance storyboard segment for the yellow sponge program a few months back and it finally aired! the episode is called "the grill is gone". shout out to my talented pal @AdamPaloian (supervising dir for the ep) for turning my chicken scratch into actual art". October 26, 2018. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  19. ^ Bobic, Chrissy (April 10, 2020). "'Smiling Friends' on Adult Swim Is Somehow Already a Hit Among Fans". Distractify. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  20. ^ Schwarz, John (April 16, 2020). "Review: Smiling Friends "Desmond's Big Day Out"". BubbleBlabber. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  21. ^ Sarto, Dan (December 14, 2021). "Adult Swim's 'Smiling Friends' Turns Frowns Upside Down". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  22. ^ Dominiguez, Noah (January 12, 2022). "Adult Swim's Smiling Friends Sets HBO Max Debut Date". CBR. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  23. ^ Rosario, Alexandra Del (February 9, 2022). "'Birdgirl' & 'Smiling Friends' Renewed For Season 2 By Adult Swim". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  24. ^ Lang, Jamie (June 13, 2024). "Adult Swim Unveils Series Orders for 'Oh My God, Yes!,' 'Ha Ha You Clowns' and Season 3 of 'Smiling Friends'". Variety. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  25. ^ Zahed, Ramin (May 2, 2025). "'Big City Greens' Creators Chris & Shane Houghton Offer a Sneak Peek at the Disney Hit's 100th Episode". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on May 3, 2025. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  26. ^ Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall, April 12, 2020, retrieved March 27, 2023
  27. ^ "Zach Hadel". IMDb. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
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