Ohhh, that's where this came from!
I directed a short film in the late 90s and we used this as an 'event' at a party (minus the floating part). We removed the glass from a light bulb to act as a remote fuse. Acetylene was perfect, as it gives this wonderful 'crack,' much better than the LPG we first tried. It was Tim's idea.
Please do not try this!
http://phrack.org/issues/1/7.html
So it has it's counter culture roots.
Edit: Which I actually just noticed is from 2600 so I guess the point stands?