Out of phase probably wouldn't shock you through the distributor housing though, unless it was able to jump to it from being out far enough.
An FYI just in case:
Out of phase means that when the distributor tells the coil to fire the rotor tip is not next to the terminal inside the cap, but sometimes so far away from it that the spark may go somewhere else. (like another terminal for a different cylinder that isn't supposed to be firing) or even possibly the distributor metal itself, but usually through the rotor since that path to ground is closer to the spark source in the center of the cap.
This rotor burn through was really common on the old large cap GM HEI ignitions.