It takes a good deal of resistance to avoid a plethora of puns, when reviewing A Shocking Exhibition. Dale Johnson, the temporary exhibitions officer at the Banbury Museum, greeted me with “No charge”, so the weakness is contagious. Advertise this exhibition as ‘Electricity’ and it doesn’t sound nearly so attractive . . . there I go again. Dare to go and be challenged, enjoy the 15 hands-on experiments and come away having learned a lot, quite effortlessly.

I turned the handle of the ‘Wilmshurst Machine’ and made sparks fly – really, not metaphorically. The voltage spark leapt across the gap and reminded me of God pointing the figure in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Electricity is that invisible, godlike force of nature. People have been known to ask when electricity “was invented”.

I guess God or the Big Bang invented it, but man captured it and used it for our own Frankenstein ends. One example is ‘The Electric Fence’. Dare you touch it? There is a warning on this experiment: “Do not use if you have a pacemaker.”

There are two sets of bars. One pair has a charge of 3 volts. Our body resists the flow of electricity and the 3-volt rails cannot overcome that resistance. But the 5000-volt rails? Well, that is another shocking story!

Operate the ‘Electrolysis’ experiment and you can generate electricity. First you separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. Then you mix them suddenly so they ignite and cause an explosion. How has the museum managed to keep ‘health and safety’ at bay?

Some of these experiments show how the human body is a channel for electricity.

‘The Human Battery’ is an illuminating way to understand how a battery is constructed. Put your hands on two different metals – copper and aluminium – and the current through salty water continues for a long time. The salt water is of course in you.

Alexandro Volta and Luigi Galvini were early observers of the interaction of electricity with animal bodies. In ‘Frogs Legs’ you can make them twitch. Don’t worry, you are not turned into a torturer of reptiles; the frog is made of plastic. In Alexandro’s original experiment, he used the real thing. No prizes for knowing the origin of the word ‘volt’.

The Danish scientist, Hans Christian Orsted, was the first to discover the link between magnetism and electricity, and that discovery led to what we know as ‘electro magnetism’. Powerful magnets are used to sort iron from other material in recycling plants and can pick up an entire car in a scrapyard.

For the ‘Electromagnet’ experiment, you simply switch on the magnet to attract pieces of iron and for a few seconds construct a magnetic sculpture.

‘The Plasma Globe’ is not only fascinating but is also the most beautiful exhibit in the current exhibition. It contains a mixture of gases at low pressure. A high voltage electrode at its heart makes the gas glow with golden rays. Hold a hand near to the globe and see that the light is attracted to you. It will even ignite a little fluorescent tube held near it; no hidden switches or wires, just science magic.

When it comes to language and double meanings what is one to make of the ‘Electrical Stimulator’?

Its full name, Transustaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, is not nearly so sexy. It is best known in an abbreviated form as the TENS machine and is used to help reduce pain in muscles, joints and nerves. It works by stimulating endorphins and blocking signals to the brain. I was reminded that ‘Resistance is useful’ because it is used to control electricity. This experiment uses the type of manual resistance employed in dimmer switches.

When it comes to ‘Circuits’ it is make or break time. This was the hardest to operate and on this one I failed. I am sure many others will have more success. Maybe my mind was on those puns again!

Visually, ‘Jacobs Ladder’ like the’ Plasma Globe’ will attract. Switch it on to watch the lightning move up the tower. Lightning is static electricity which builds up in rain clouds and can only be discharged by earthing to other clouds or to the ground.

If my review sparks an interest in you, A Shocking Exhibition is on until November 22 at the Banbury Museum. It is accessed from the tourist information centre in The Castle Quay Shopping Centre. (The museum is closed on Sundays.) Most of the workshop spots for schools are already booked, but it is worth enquiring and the exhibition is of course open to school parties as well as to the general public.