I had a neighbor that traveled on his sailboat from P'cola to the Bahamas (and elsewhere), but he always made sure he was home for the 4th. of July. (We had some hairy fireworks displays and he wanted to make sure we didn't burn his house down.)
One of my favorites was to take a gross of cheap bottle rockets and cram them inside a tireless wheel rim that was laying flat. To light them, I'd stick a blowtorch down there and move it around, lighting as many as I could. After a second or two, I'd turn my head away, count to three, then get the hell out of there! It made an impressive display. After three or four gross of bottle rockets being done that way, a small fire would develop down there and it would ensure all of the bottle rockets fired...