In Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman, Richard Feynman tells a story of the magic shows he'd put on as a child, for the rest of the kids in his neighbourhood.
His grand finale would be to secretly plunge his hands into water, and then into benzine. He would then brush a hand past one of the bunsen burners he had going on either side of his table and scream at the sight of the flames. He'd try to clap the burning hand out, only for his other hand to catch alight. At this point he'd chase the hysterical youngsters out into the street and that would be the end of the show. Supposedly the water keeps the benzine floating on top of it moving quickly enough that one doesn't get hurt.
He then goes on to describe trying to convince his university buddies that he had done this unharmed. He repeated the trick for them, realising too late that in the years since he'd last done the trick he'd grown hairs on the backs of his hands, each of which functioned as a tiny little wick to deliver the heat to his skin. He finishes by mentioning that after that, he could perform the trick with impunity because he no longer had any hair on his hands...