File:Transtrom's Tesla coil stunts - lighting bulb between hands.jpg

English: High voltage expert Henry Transtrom in 1913 demonstrating current from a Tesla coil (not shown) passing from his right hand to his left hand through a 50 watt light bulb with enough current to light the filament. The text explains that the path through his hand and the bulb has less inductance than the path through his arms and body. The Tesla coil applied a voltage of 50 kV to 100 kV of alternating current at a frequency of 100 kHz to 1 MHz to his body. The experiment is not painful because frequencies above 10 kHz do not cause the physiological sensation of electric shock. During the early 20th century carnival and circus sideshow performers charged their bodies with hundreds of thousands of volts from a Tesla coil to perform spectacular stunts like this.

It used to be thought that, due to skin effect, high frequency currents traveled along the surface of the body and didn't penetrate to vital organs, so it could not cause shock and electrcution, but today it is known that these currents do penetrate the body. Passing Tesla currents through the body like this is now considered extremely dangerous and can result in electrocution. DON'T TRY THIS