Read this about vacuum tubes
To do the same in free air, which makes for a decent insulator, much higher voltages are needed than the 600-700V used in a vacuum tube.
Cars for instance used to have a coil that took the 12V from the battery/alternator (generator?) and created a high voltage which the points & rotor in the distributor cap connected to one spark plug at a time to make a spark across the little gap at end of a spark plug, igniting the pressurized air/gas mixture in the cylinder. Spark plug - Wikipedia
So 12,000 to 25,000 volts to spark across a little gap - need a lot more to create that same spark and go any kind of meaningful distance. The right kind of footware on a carpet in the winter can generate a pretty good shock too - but only an inch or so, and you being charged up need to discharge into something at a lower charge.