I saw that, it’s hilarious!
One of our toys here is a Jacob’s Ladder made with a neon sign transformer almost the size of a shoebox. I forget the specs, but I think it’s maybe 12 kV at about 25 mA. It won’t get your attention, it will get you dead. The arc across the gap will cut right through a piece of paper.
My Dad was an ME but very good with electronics. I remember him changing the picture tube in our old Dumont TV and showing me at a very young age how to discharge the large capacitors in the TV with the admonition that they were deadly. He never once got zapped.
I also remember plans in Popular Science in the 60s for a Jacob’s Ladder and always wanted to build one, but never got around to it. Every mad scientist’s lab had to have one.
I got 18 kV at <10mV once from a power supply that we used for running a low energy x-ray source. Threw me back a bit and my hand smelled funny from the top layer of skin being flashed. Other than than that no ill effects.
There was a time in our lab when if something had more than 300 V in it, I’d start circling it like a moth. I’m lucky I didn’t get buzzed more than I did.
ABDO-LUTELY HILARIOUS
I built a 250,000 volt Van De Graaf generator for 7th grade Science project. It would throw bolts a foot long!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graaff_generator
I was demonstrating it to the class. I was standing on a piece of plywood on top of glass milk bottles, to insulate myself. I leaned over, and put my forehead near the globe, to make all my hair stand on end. The bottle stand started to shake. In fear of falling, I grabbed the nearest object to hand. Ya know those old lab tables, with the gooseneck faucet spout? Yup! Instantly grounded myself. A bolt shot about a foot into the center of my forehead! Didn’t faze me, as I’d already shocked myself dozens of times fooling with that darn thing. But poor Mr. Diuto, the teacher just about had a heart attack!
Got an A for the project, and a week of detention for later hooking it up to the classroom’s door knob!
In high school we had a 15,000-volt center-tapped transformer from a high-voltage transmitter rig we took apart.
So of course, we were playing Jacob’s ladder. And unfortunately, we did not pay attention to the center-tap wire, which was dangling off the table.
I ended up knocked into the cabinets on the other side of the radio room, when the charge jumped too the table leg, then over to a trash can, and then into my leg.
Ah, the good old days......