More often than not when lighting  quick lighting charcoals I get two negative results right  away. One is the sparks flying and sometimes  half a coal sets off into orbit around the room which is dangerous.
The second being that the coal only burns well on one side and I have to blow on it for awhile until the  complete coal is well lit.
It occured to me by dumb luck that instead of lighting the coal¬†in the usual fashion ,¬†laying down in the coal carrying tray I tried lighting it on its round side standing up. Makes sense. The reason coals explode is too much massive heat tocontain them. Like often happens if you put one half a coal on top of a whole one when lighting. The they fly apart. By having the coal laying face down the same thing.Much of the heat is transfered to the bottom of the tray since the coal can’t burn well the layer of gunpowder which lights it. Only on one side. You’re left with a badly lit coal and a hot bottom!
By standing it up you get an even over-all burn.
http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Charcoal/Star-Coals-120-pcs.asp see photo
(What ever you do, never  directly light the coal onto the shisha clay bowl as it will scorch the shisha top layer or more and fill it with the smell of gunpowder instead of flavour!)