Are you sure that's a tesla coil? It looks more like a Van de Graaf generator

Alright, my degree is in electronics, but I've got to ask... Why dont these type things kill people?

Tesla coils and Van de Graaff generators appear similar, however a Van de Graaff has very little current (no electrical storage, you might say) whereas the constant high voltage and frequencies of this tesla coil could no doubt cause very serious burns. Notice he appears to be holding a piece of wood that is being ignited by the arcing electricity.

Dr. Megavolt ( http://www.drmegavolt.com/ ) actually does hold a PhD, and currently enjoys building and demonstating tesla coil systems, as well as variations of metal cage suits that whisk away deadly voltage to grounded wires, allowing him to do what you see in the video above.

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The duration of this video has been updated from unknown to 9 secs - length declared by bareboards2.