Didn't go naked Nigel, but kicked a few lights outside the malls in The Netherlands, in my younger years. The lamps used to go out, but restruck after a while when the lamp cooled down.
Now I work on streetlight control circuits in New Zealand . Most lamps are High Pressure sodium (orange peach colour). A hot bulb when shaken causes the hot gas to loose the arc, Often when the lamp cools down the pressure in the lamp drops and it will restrike again.
The MV (mercury vapour) blueish white light don't like kicks and it will destroy a very expensive lamp.