What does 上げた方が mean here?

Question

Someone pretends to drop a cake on the ground that was intended for friend, then reveals the real cake was elsewhere.

気分を落としてから上げた方が喜びが倍増するってきいたから

I feel its saying something akin to

I'd heard that giving after someone is feeling down makes them twice as happy

But what exactly does 上げた方が mean here?

I thought it might be a XほうがY formation for comparing two things but only found examples that had an adjective after ほうが.

Answer 1

You are close, but this あげる is not "to give" but "to raise/elevate". 落とす and 上げる are transitive verbs with opposite meanings. The literal translation is "I'd heard that bringing someone's mood down and then bringing it up makes them twice as happy." The speaker said this to explain why he intentionally disappointed the friend.

Recently 上げて落とす and 落として上げる are used as slangy set phrases, and the object (気分を) is not always stated explicitly. See: What is the meaning of 上げて落としたみてー?

And yes, this 方が is a phrase used for comparison. It can safely take a verb before it (as a relative clause).

• 夢は大きい方がいい。
  A big dream is better (than a small dream).
• お金はある方がいい。
  Having money is better (than having no money).