I did retirement home training and used to think it was a sweet job. Then I got in the business and underestimated how demoralizing it was as they give you the easy elders in training while the others make you, or at least me, really think of the fact the job just amounts to an unkarmic freebie.
There is a launch pad thing using springs or compressed air to give them a boost or they wouldn’t go as far.
The explosion is just for sound, and it is funny if the timing is off.