Is it possible to build a circuit for generating high voltage at very low current equivalent to that of a simple electrostatic discharge? I want to be able to feed the thing with a 9V battery at most as this would be intended to be a harmless desktop prop. I'm not an electrical engineer just a hobbyist. My incentive for building this is inconsistency of operation with a Van De Graf generator with factors like humidity etc. I've built HV circuits before involving ignition coils but those things can get dangerous and my circuits didn't last long. Transistors failed or got very hot. The output current could be tuned so high that it effortlessly cut through wire insulation where the sparks jumped.
I looked into the super-cascade circuits for this project but i'd think the initial input voltage would have to be pretty high as well right? Also insulation would probably be an issue since 100 kV can jump a centimeter gap effortlessly. TV super-cascades (those rectangular blocks) would probably be good for this kind of thing because of insulation but again the input voltage issue.
Anyone got solid-state HV circuit plans that are not as dangerous as an ignition could would be? I was thinking of using an oscillator to perpetuate induction coil generating kickback voltage that would drive the super-cascade would that work?